Tattered Innocence
by child of the new dawn
Summary: complete AU Voldemort is more determined than ever to find Harry after his narrow escape. Sirius and Remus must find away to keep a fiveyearold Harry safe from the Dark Lord, the Ministry, and the wizarding world begging for a hero.
1. Default Chapter

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

Summary: AU: Voldemort didn't die that night at Godric's Hollow, but returned to his followers weeks later lacking a body and bearing a grudge against a little scar-headed boy. Sirius convinced Dumbledore of his innocence and now must raise Harry with the help of a werewolf and the threat of Voldemort hanging over them. The first war never ended, and the fate of the world has landed on a one-year old child, with his over-protective godfather and werewolf 'uncle'.

A/N Thanks to Kemenran for betaing this for me, this fic has been stuck in my head for ages now, so hope you like it!

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The sun had set, leaving a blood red line across the horizon in its wake as the inky blackness of night covered the sky. A loud rumbling cut through the soft sounds of dusk as a huge motorcycle tore through the sky. The rider clutched the leather-covered handles tightly, his hands paling as the blood drained away, as he forced his bike to go as fast as it could, ignoring Moony's motorbike rules that had been set when the Marauders had given him the bike. "You don't have to break the sound barrier every time you ride the basted thing..." '_Oh Remus, how could I have ever thought it was you?'_ The rider, or rather, Sirius Black the disowned child of the Black family and proud member of the Marauders, thought. '_If anything happens to them...'_

The Potters had taken refuge in James' hometown called Godric's Hollow. Though Sirius had pretended to be suffering from what he called 'Harry Withdrawal', he knew the danger his best mate, Lily, and his godson were in. His heart clenched as he remembered the last letter he had been sent from Lily before they went into hiding. She had included a picture of James with his arms around her with Harry giggling in her arms. _'They have to be okay...'_

If they're not... a wave of betrayal and anger washed over him, as his thoughts turned to Peter. That traitor! He had trusted him! They all had trusted him! The anger was gone as soon as it came, however, to be replaced with bubbling guilt. He had been the one to suggest the switch... hell he had insisted on it! His hold on the handles tightened. _'There's still time... I still have a chance to make it okay...'_

"Oh Merlin..." Sirius gasped as large clouds of black smoke rose in front of him, nearly blending in with the sky. He waited for the familiar uncomfortable feeling of passing through a ward, but a wave of panic consumed him when he felt nothing but the cold air whizzing past as he zoomed over the country side._ 'Breathe Sirius, there's no dark mark... James would fight back...'_

Sirius felt the blood rush from his face as he saw the smoldering wreckage that had once been his best friend's house. He landed outside of the iron gate that had once surrounded the Potter's yard and now lay twisted and broken on the dirt. Sirius jumped off his bike and leapt over the remains of the gate. He sprinted toward the house and stopped at the door way. The door had been blasted off its hinges and lay on the floor, among ashes and rubble from the destruction of the house. Sirius took a step forward but jumped back sharply when his foot hit something soft.

"Oh my god... James!" Sirius knelt quickly at his friend's side and pushed the debris off of him. He shrugged off his robe and wiped James' face off with it. He searched for a pulse.... nothing. His best friend was dead. With a trembling hand, Sirius closed James' eye lids and tucked the broken and cracked glasses James had always worn in the front pocket of his robes. A noise from upstairs made his jump and with one last hopeless look at his best friend's still face, he sprinted up the stairs.

The first thing that registered in the haze of Sirius' thoughts was Harry, so he raced towards his room. The white door was already open, hanging only by the top hinge, and covered in streaks of ash. Sirius walked in slowly, jumping when he heard glass crack underneath his foot. He looked down to see he had stepped on a photo of Harry just hours after he was born. Sirius looked away quickly, unable to look at James and Lily's proud and smiling faces.

He looked up to see a mass of red hair on the floor. "Lily!" He hurried to her but cried out in shock when she lay still and as pale as James. He touched her wrist... no pulse.

"Damn you Peter!" He cried out as tears trickled down his face. Lily's beautiful emerald eyes, Harry's eyes, were half-closed and stared lifelessly at Sirius. He laid her body gently back onto the floor, her deep red hair spread around her, like a halo of fire. Sirius started to shake uncontrollably, Lily and James were gone.

"Pa-foo!"

Sirius' head snapped up, he'd recognize that voice anywhere. Slowly he got to his feet and approached the overturned cradle. He lifted up Harry's light blue blanket and was met with tearful emerald eyes looking into his. "Pa-foo!"

"Harry?" Sirius fell to his knees and cradled Harry to his chest. He looked down at his godson and saw a large gash on his forehead, but no other wounds. His godson was alright, he survived...

In a daze Sirius ripped part of his sleeve off and wiped the blood off of his godson. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped little Harry in it, still holding onto him tightly. When he turned, Harry spotted Lily on the floor. "Ma!" he shouted and reached out with his small arms toward her.

When she didn't respond, Harry wiggled more reaching his arms out to her. "Ma's gone Harry..." Harry knew what gone meant but kept staring at his mother's body, still reaching out to her. Sirius pressed a soft kiss onto Harry's forehead, careful not to agitate his wound, and quickly threw Harry's favorite toys into a baby bag along with some dippers, trying hard not to look at Lily. He handed Harry the small stuffed black dog he had given him for his birthday and little Harry wrapped his arms around it.

Sirius paused in the doorway and whispered a soft prayer for Lily and for James. "I'll take care of your son, just like you wanted... I won't forget you...either of you... and I'll make sure Harry doesn't either... I'll love him like he was my own... goodbye old friends...Prongs and Lily will live on..."

With the baby bag slung over one shoulder and Harry in his arms, Sirius walked stiffly out of the Potter's house, careful not to look back at the destruction behind him. One foot in front of the other... A loud crunch from the gravel, however, told him he was not alone.

"Who's there?" Sirius called out, hand already going for his wand. There was another crunch and Hagrid appeared before him. "Hagrid? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked relaxing slightly.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me, to collect young Harry there." He gave a great sniff, "Poor Lily an' James! They didn' deserve this!"

Sirius lowered his head and clutched Harry tighter, he was not going to give Harry up, not even to Dumbledore, "It was that traitor Peter Pettigrew that did this!" Sirius snarled looking up furiously.

Hagrid stared at Sirius, "Peter Pettigrew? How'd ya mean?"

Sirius winced slightly, "It's all my fault. Lily and James wanted me to be secret keeper for them, but I turned them down at the last minute and told them to switch to Peter. I thought that would fool Voldemort," Sirius ignored Hagrid's wince and continued, "I'd thought he would go after me and never suspect Peter. But that rat betrayed us! We didn't tell anyone about the switch! He gave Lily and James to Voldemort!"

Sirius looked down at Harry again and said softly, "I don't know how, but somehow Harry survived."

"That poor little thing...he survived the killin' curse?"

Sirius nodded and lifted Harry's black hair to revel the cut that resembled a lightning bolt, now that all the blood was gone. It would undoubtedly scar, a standing tribute to the horrors that occurred not a few minutes ago.

There was a loud hiss suddenly and Sirius whipped around to see a large black cloud of smoke floating before them, with blood red eyes and back slits for pupils, the eyes of Voldemort. His wand arm froze as he stared into those red eyes... The eyes stared at the bundle in Sirius' arms and a high cold voice whispered, "Revenge." before disappearing into the night.

Sirius let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Voldemort was still alive... He turned to Hagrid quickly, "Hagrid, where is Dumbledore sending Harry? Hogwarts?"

Hagrid just stared at Sirius for a moment, his normally ruddy face milk white. "Hagrid!" Sirius half-yelled, causing Harry to wake up and start to fuss at the sudden loud noise. Sirius shushed him and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead, "Sorry pup." He murmured softly and turned back to Hagrid, "Where is Dumbledore taking Harry?"

"Ter his aunt an' uncle o'course, they're all he's got now." Hagrid managed to say after a few moments.

"Those muggles?!" Sirius exclaimed in disgust, "They hate magic! The things Lily used to tell us about them... Harry's not safe there... especially with Him back...." Sirius muttered more to himself than Hagrid. He looked up at the huge man and clutched Harry tightly, "Let me take Harry, Hagrid. I'm his godfather. It's what Lily and James wanted..."

"I have me orders from Dumbledore an'-"

"Tell Dumbledore everything that happened here, take my motorcycle to get back to Hogwarts, and then tell him to fire-call me at Remus' house." Sirius interrupted, "Please Hagrid, I have to tell... Merlin, Remus doesn't even know.... He'll think.... Please Hagrid tell Dumbledore everything that I told you, he'll know what to do then."

Hagrid regarded Sirius silently for a moment with his kind black eyes, before sighing, "All righ' Sirius. I'll tell Dumbledore wha happen'd. And wha 'bout little 'Arry?" the half-giant asked, "He's not safe with tha' great demon smoke flyin' round, what was tha' thing?"

"That was Voldemort." Sirius said starting to get irritated as Hagrid winced again, "I'm Harry's godfather, I'll keep him safe, while I wait to hear from Dumbledore."

Hagrid looked like he was going to argue more, so Sirius continued in a quiet voice, "I just lost Lily and James in one night. I'm not going to lose Harry too, especially if Voldemort is still alive." There was a moment of silence, before Hagrid spoke.

"You'll be at Lupin's then?" He asked gruffly.

Sirius nodded gratefully, "I'll be waiting. Besides... Remus needs to know as well..." Sirius sniffed and looked away, he didn't know how to break it to Remus, how he had thought Remus was the traitor and how it was all his fault Lily and James were dead.

Sirius was brought back from his thoughts by Hagrid's gentle pat on the shoulder that nearly made his knees buckle. The gentle half-giant gave Harry, what must have been a scratchy and wiry kiss, on the top of his head. He watched as Hagrid flew away on the motorcycle, before turning back to the Potter house, after a few long moments, he apparated to Moony's house with Harry asleep in his arms.

Sirius appeared in Remus' front yard with a soft 'pop'. Harry stirred slightly in his arms, only to shift and fall back asleep. Sirius crossed the neat-looking lawn, feeling the wet dew on the grass begin to soak his shoes. Remus had inherited a little cottage from his parents when they died in his last year at Hogwarts. Due to Remus' 'condition' he could not find much work and could almost always be found at his home.

As he raised his hand to knock on the door, it all hit him. This was real. James and Lily were gone... Harry was an orphan and the only survivor of the most lethal curse known to wizard kind. There were only two marauders, betrayed by the third. Peter had as good as killed Lily and James... Peter had betrayed them... He had to raise Harry by himself... Harry shifted in his arms again and Sirius jerked himself to the present and banged on the door as hard as he could to keep himself distracted.

He jumped slightly when the door was opened soon after and just managed to stop from falling through the doorway. He looked up into the amused face of Remus Lupin, "So Padfoot, care to explain why you're trying to break down my door?" His expression changed when he saw the bundle in Sirius' arms and his gaunt face, "What happened?"

Staring at his friend's concerned face, Sirius broke down, "Gone..." he managed to choke out, "Lily and James... gone."

Remus' face went paper white, "How?" he asked hoarsely.

"Changed secret-keepers... Peter- he gave them to Voldemort. I thought it'd be a bluff but... they're gone!"

Remus leaned against the door frame breathing hard; he looked up suddenly, "Harry?"

At hearing his name, Harry stirred and blinked sleepily up at Remus before breaking into a grin, "Moony!" He reached out for Remus who held Harry gently, staring at him as if he'd never seen him before, and then he looked up at Sirius, "You'd better come in."

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A/N Please Review!!


	2. Chapter 2

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad to see you're trying out my fic even though you usually don't read AU's, hope it stays up to your expectations!

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Chapter 2

Sirius watched as the dark liquid inside his cup swirled around the spoon, as he slowly stirred his tea. The soft sound of the spoon clinking against the little white, slightly chipped after years of use, cup was comfortably familiar and the heat of the tea warmed his cold hands. Harry laying on a small rug in front of the fire place, rolling a small ball over the smooth surface of the hardwood floor in front of him, giggling as he did so.

Remus' house had a warm feeling to it. Sirius was sitting in a slightly worn, large, stuffed chair, closest to the fireplace. Across from him was two more chairs, similar to his, and a couch with a large afghan thrown over the top of it neatly. Short bookshelves lined walls with Remus' little knickknacks and photographs on top of them and hanging on the wall. The kitchen entrance was right behind Sirius and the stairs to the second level of the house were in the far left corner of the room.

Remus returned from the kitchen with his own cup of tea in one hand and a bottle of Old Ogden's Firewhisky in the other. After Sirius had told his story Remus had poured him a drink and disappeared into the kitchen. Sirius pretended not to notice his slightly red eyes and poured a bit of the alcohol into his tea and stirred it a bit more. Neither man drank much, save the occasional 'guys' night out' or more recently when more reports of death and mourning of killed order members became nearly a daily ritual.

The mantel over the fire held a picture of the Order of the Phoenix and a row upturned and upside-down shot glasses. There was also a candle on each side of the picture. Under normal circumstances, order members would not have pictures of each other in their homes, but they had long faced the fact that Voldemort's men knew who they were and had been picking them off one by one for many months now. So many had lost their lives and families...

"_Sirius_."

Sirius jumped and looked over at Remus, who had obviously said his name more than once, "Sorry Moony. What is it?"

"You told Dumbledore everything you just told me, right?"

"I told Hagrid to tell him, Dumbledore should fire-call soon..." Sirius trailed off and looked back down into his whisky and tea. He jumped when he felt a tug on his leg and looked down into emerald eyes. Harry had pulled himself up using Sirius' robes and was holding out his arms to be picked up. Sirius put his drink down onto a small coffee table next to him and bent down to pull Harry up so he was sitting on Sirius' knee. Harry gurgled happily and wiggled his feet. Remus searched the baby bag and tugged out an extra shirt from the bottom. He smoothed it out on his knee and knelt down in front of Sirius, who pulled off Harry's ash covered shirt, and tugged the clean shirt gently over Harry's head.

"He needs a bath Sirius, and get that cut checked out..." Remus said softly, brushing Harry's tuff of jet black hair back to look at the lightning bolt cut. The skin looked red and irritated around the cut and Harry squirmed as Remus rubbed it with a wet cloth he had conjured. Harry stopped squirming when he caught sight of Remus' wand. Remus smiled and muttered a spell. Large purple bubbles blossomed out of the wand around Harry, who giggled again when one popped on the tip of his nose.

A particularly large bubble burst in Sirius' face, causing the animagus to shake his head like his other form of Padfoot. In retaliation Sirius sent a stream of blue bubbles at Remus' face. Before what would later be know as the 'Bubble War' by Harry, could continue, a bright green fire burst from the previously dormant fire.

An ancient looking wizard's face with a crooked nose and long white hair and beard appeared in the fire and looked at the occupants through light blue eyes that normally twinkled in happiness. There was no light in those old eyes then, as they looked over Sirius' and Remus' pale tired faces and landed on the babe still sitting on Sirius' knee.

"It seems there are a few things you need to tell me Sirius Black." He said softly, "Remus, do you mind if-?"

"No, of course not." Remus said quickly glancing at Sirius' unreadable face, "Come right in, Professor Dumbledore."

The head in the fire nodded and disappeared for a moment, before the full-bodied wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore stepped inside Remus' living room. He looked at Sirius through his half-moon glasses as he said, "Hagrid has just told me a very interesting story about you, Sirius. How you switched secret-keepers without telling anyone and how he came to find you with your godson in your arms before the rubble that was once Godric's Hollow. And..." he sighed wearily, "How you saw the spirit of Lord Voldemort rise and leave."

"Yes, sir." Sirius said quietly.

Dumbledore nodded and turned to Harry, "Harry was not harmed at all?" he asked.

Sirius pulled back Harry's fringe reveling the large cut. Dumbledore picked Harry up gently and studied the cut for a moment, before sighing sadly, "I'm afraid he'll have this scar forever. A lasting remnant of the curse no one before has survived." He smiled benignly down at Harry, "They are already calling you the Boy-Who-Lived, little one. Extraordinary, that a child so young could survive such a curse."

"So it was the Avada Kavadra curse?" Sirius asked sharply, "How could he have survived it? That was the curse..." He stopped abruptly, that was the curse that killed his parents and so many others.

"Yes, somehow little Harry survived. He's the light in this darkness. The whole wizarding world is calling him a savior, the Boy-Who-Lived. We may never know what really happened...The dark lord defeated by a mere babe... but he will return." He looked up grimly at Sirius and Remus, "He will return and seek out Harry to finish what he started. That is why he must go to his aunt and uncle."

"No!" Sirius shouted loudly, causing Harry to whimper softly. Remus took Harry in his arms while Sirius glared at Dumbledore, "I'm Harry's legal guardian if something happened to Lily and James. Harry will be safe-"

"Sirius, Peter Pettigrew is still very much alive as well as Voldemort and his followers are. It was his information that led Voldemort to the Potters and therefore his fault that he met his downfall there. The deatheaters will not be forgiving of Pettigrew, and will seek him out. If Peter is desperate, and I know he will be, he will try and give Tom the one thing that will guarantee his survival, the last and only Potter."

"I'll rip Peter apart myself if he comes near Harry," Sirius said fiercely, "But I will not let Harry go to those muggles if I can provide for him. The things Lily told me about them Albus... I won't send my baby godson to them."

Sirius lowered his voice, "Please, I'll leave the country with him if I have to. I'll put up wards, do whatever it takes! But I am not sending Harry to those godforsaken muggles Lily could barely call family."

There was a silence broken only by Remus laying Harry gently down on the couch as he curled up to sleep. Dumbledore stared at Harry for a long moment. He looked like a baby angel with a halo of black hair sticking in every direction like his fathers. His slightly chubby fingers clutched the edge of his blanket that Remus had laid over him.

After a few long moments Dumbledore finally spoke, "You may keep Harry with you, but you must take the necessary precautions. You must move to a place you have had no connections to, somewhere Peter won't think to look. I'd advise you to go with him, Remus," Dumbledore said turning toward Remus, "and help him raise Harry."

"But my condition...." Remus trailed off. As nice as the thought of raising Harry with Sirius and keeping them both out of trouble sounded, he would not risk Harry's safety during full moons.

"You managed your lycanthrope easily at Hogwarts, with some precautions I'm sure you would manage as before." Dumbledore said calmly and continued at Remus nod of agreement. Sirius would need some help to raise Harry; it would be good for both of them to have each other as they were going to have to isolate themselves until Harry was old enough to go to Hogwarts.

"Once you find a place to live, I will put the necessary wards up, but I stress the fact it must be very isolated from any wizard or witch contact." Dumbledore sighed sadly, "This also includes that you can not attend Lily and James' funeral."

"What?!" Sirius and Remus said at the same time. Remus frowned slightly, "Do you really think they would attack us there? Surrounded by other wizards?"

Dumbledore nodded, "It would put all three of you in a specific place at a specific time. I know you wish to honor Lily and James but not at the risk of their only son's life." He said quietly.

Remus and Sirius nodded sadly, and Dumbledore continued, "There is one last requirement... should you be discovered or an attack is near your hiding place, I will take Harry to the Dursleys," he held up a hand as both Sirius and Remus opened their mouths to protest, "Only until you have a place to live in safely. There still is Grimald Place, Sirius." Dumbledore said softly watching him.

Sirius bristled visibly, "Only at a _very_ last resort." He grumbled.

Dumbledore nodded and knelt beside the couch Harry lay on, drawing his wand. He fought back a chuckle as he felt Remus' and Sirius' eyes boring into his back. With a few simple spells, the cut on Harry's forehead healed into a thin lightning bolt. He reached into his deep pockets and found what he was looking for under his bag of lemon drops.

He gave what looked like a silver muggle lighter to Sirius and turned back to Harry with a small gold charm of a stag. He waved his wand in precise complicated movements over Harry and the gold charm flashed a bright green before returning to its original color. He strung a leather cord through a small hole at the top of the charm and turned to the two men behind him.

"This," he held up the charm, "is extremely important. It is the key to which both Harry's tracking and protection charms are homed to. Should something happen, this should allow you to find Harry's location and condition." Dumbledore handed Sirius the charm as well.

Remus glanced at the silver lighter, "Doesn't that turn off muggle streetlights?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "Should you live near muggles it would make moving in and out quite a bit easier."

He took one last look at Harry, and then said "I shall send Fawkes to you in a few days; send your plans by then to me. I'll send him to you twice a mouth, to have an idea where you are going."

"Thank you sir," Sirius said quietly.

Dumbledore sighed, "Always the innocent..." and went to the fireplace and muttered a spell. Bright flames crackled up and he threw a pinch full of powder into the fire turning it green once again. Before he stepped into the flames he glanced over at the couch where Sirius was holding the sleeping Harry against his chest and whispered softly, "Good luck Harry Potter." And with a shout of "Hogwarts" he disappeared.

Later that night wizards all over the world raised their glasses and said in soft voices 'To Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived!'; while in a small cottage, two men mourned their best friends' death and readied themselves to create the newest marauder's future, wherever it may take them. And so, little Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world and only survivor of the attack on Godric's Hollow, slept on, not knowing he was special or famous, only that he was safe and warm in his Godfather's arms.

Even through the darkest of nights a new dawn will rise and with it a new beginning. The hope of the wizarding world was rekindled.

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A/N thanks again to all my reviewers, hope you liked it!

Thanks to unknown, Doomed-Fruits-of-fiction (love the name by the way), TeenTypist (glad you're giving this a try), and athenakitty.

Creative Deficit- I agree with you that Sirius should be vengeful, but right now his main concerns are with Harry, like you said. His first thoughts after he got to Remus' was to keep Harry. The death will sink in a little more and he'll.... Lol not giving it away but you'll see a vengeful Sirius soon! Thanks for the review! Yes Snape will be in soon...

Ckat44- so still like my AU? Hope so! I'm glad you like it, was this chappie worth the wait? Lol ttyl soon I hope, I haven't been on much, school's really hectic.

Padawan Jan-AQ- ahhh my first reviewer always gets a gold star!! I'm glad you like my fic and I hope you continue to enjoy it. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N notice the change in rate people, PG-13 more to be safe than anything, mostly swearing and violence.

Thanks to Kemenran for betaing and to everyone who reviewed!!!

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Chapter 3

_Sirius leapt up the wooden stairs two at a time, ignoring the loud 'thud's that followed each landing. There was loud music blaring from the bar downstairs, so it was unlikely that his noise would cause much disturbance.  
_

_He stopped in front of the door marked number 12 in peeling black letters. He moved to turn the tarnished doorknob and jumped when the door swung open as he applied pressure. Peter had been so nervous of late, especially after the switch, it was unlikely that he would just leave his door open like this. He walked into the dark room and took a good look around. _

_A few clothes were spread about; hanging half in and half out of Peter's trunk and chest of drawers, but that was not uncommon for Peter. Still.... something just didn't seem right. He had told Peter to meet him here, and as forgetful as Peter was, he was never outside after dark. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as Sirius called out for Peter. "Peter! Oy, Wormtail!" Nothing. _

_He took a step back, 'No...' _

_Lily and James' lifeless eyes stared accusingly at him. Harry was crying in the background..._

**Thud!**

Sirius jerked awake as something small and hard smacked him across the face and fell onto the carpet. He was in Moony's guest room where there was a crib set up for when Harry spent the night. Sirius hadn't been able to sleep till the early morning.

Rubbing his abused face, Sirius sat up from where he had dozed off, fully dressed on top of the bed, and saw Remus holding a giggling Harry who had only one tiny shoe on. Remus looked exhausted, and was trying hard not to smile as he said, "Sorry Sirius, Harry apparently didn't like that shoe. He's got a good arm for barely being a year old."

Sirius was not a morning person, though the clock on the wall informed him it was long past noon in its shrilly voice that screeched, "Get out of bed and comb your hair scruffy!" Sirius had never liked that clock, as it reminded him too much of his dear old mother, who had the same shrilly voice as she screeched insults of Sirius' behavior. Remus however, thought the clock was rather amusing and kept it, and despite all attempts, Sirius could not pry the blasted thing from the wall nor cast a silencing charm on it.

**'BAM!'**

Sirius paid for his sleepy lack of concentration, for Harry had decided that it was time for the other shoe to come off and managed to kick the loosely tied shoe off his foot and onto Sirius' head.

Biting back a curse as Remus snickered softly; Sirius grabbed both shoes and threw them into the cradle. "Those can go on later." He grumbled.

Harry giggled and clapped his chubby hands together before raising his hands up and saying "Pa-foo! Pa-foo, up!"

"You're lucky you're cute." Sirius muttered taking Harry from Remus and headed downstairs.

Sirius flopped into a chair in the kitchen and set Harry on his lap, before turning to Remus, "Any idea where we are going to go?" he asked softly.

"I looked at a couple maps last night... there are some small villages in the middle of no where that might work... or we could try a big city..." Remus suggested as he bit into a piece of slightly cold toast from a plate at the table.

"A city would be harder to locate us in...." Sirius mused and stole some of Remus' toast, "Has Harry eaten yet?"

Remus nodded distractedly and unrolled a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ that had been delivered that morning. Harry wiggled off Sirius' lap and crawled around on the floor. A crease formed on his forehead as he read the front page and he dropped the paper with a hiss.

There was a large picture of Godric's Hollow in flames and pictures of Lily and James as Head Boy and Girl from Hogwarts. The headlines read in bold print **Potter's Attacked! Infant Potter Survived! No Recent Sightings of You-Know-Who!**

"Their funeral's tomorrow." said Remus softly.

"We should be gone by then." Sirius said grimly, then clenched his fist and slammed it down onto the table, "Damn Pettigrew! If we hadn't trusted that worthless miserable rat, none of this would have happened! That traitor! How could he have done this? After all we went through...How could he just throw away their lives?!"

Harry, who had found a shiny kunt on the floor, began to cry at his Godfather's furious and hate-filled voice.

Sirius stopped shouting, but clutched his fists tighter and stared at the wall, shaking in fury. Remus picked up Harry and soothed him, before carrying him out of the room and back into his crib with some of his toys. He shut the door, save for the barest crack, to allow them to hear any problems and to prevent Harry from hearing most of Sirius' shouting.

When Remus returned, there was an empty shot-glass in front Sirius, who held his head in his hands. Remus grabbed the now empty bottle of Firewhisky and threw it away, before joining Sirius at the table.

"Don't do anything stupid Sirius." Remus said after a short period of silence.

"What," said Sirius sarcastically, "Like tearing Peter apart limb by limb?"

Remus took a breath, "As much as you want to go searching for Peter, you have to keep Harry in mind-"

"Harry is all I have in mind!" Sirius snarled turning on Remus, "How can you just sit there while you know Peter is alive and well, and trying to kill Harry? How can you not want revenge for what that bastard did to us?"

"Because I do want revenge Sirius! The wolf... you have no idea. All last night I felt like I was going to transform and hunt that rat down myself. I have to control it as much as I can now, especially with the full moon so close. But if either of us does catch up to that miserable rodent, the only thing that will happen is we'll be thrown in Azkaban and Harry will be taken away. Is that what you want, Sirius?

If you get thrown into Azkaban, Harry will go to the Dursley's!"

"You would just let Dumbledore cart him off like that?!" Sirius roared back.

"I'm a _werewolf_ Sirius! This isn't like in school when we thought it was just a big joke. Sneaking out every night and roaming Hogsmead. The Ministry of Magic would _never_ let a werewolf so much as interfere with a young child, let alone raise it! Harry would be given to the Dursley's, while you rotted in Azkaban, and the bloody wolf destroyed me!

Stop acting like a child Sirius! Harry's our responsibility now!" Remus stopped, breathing heavily, before saying although much quieter, "Lily and James would want you to put Harry first... like you always have."

Sirius looked up at Remus almost pleadingly, "We can't just let him get away with this..."

"He won't." Remus said firmly, his hazel eyes flickering gold for a mere second.

Sirius sighed and sank into his chair again, "Why did this happen, Moony?"

Remus just shook his head and buried his face into his palms. The two sat in silence before a childish voice cried out, "Worm Worm!"

Sirius and Remus shared a look of horror before jumping out of there chairs and sprinting into the other room.

Ten Minutes Before

Wormtail watched as Remus carried little Harry into his guest bedroom and placed him in his crib along with his toys. He waited for a few moments listening to Sirius' and Remus' shouted argument with keen ears.

His master had appeared before him, barely more than a spirit if even that. To repay for what had happened, he was to steal Harry away from Sirius and Remus and take him to his master. The consequences for not succeeding...

Wormtail frown slightly as he observed Harry holding his stuffed dog toy close to him. There was nothing that special about Harry. Sure he was using magic as a pretty young age... had wormtail not seen him magically untie his shoes just that morning? Sirius would never be much of a morning person, but with that type of wake up...

He shook his head quickly, now was not the time to become sentimental, he had chosen his side. Had not his master survive the backlash of the killing curse? He was an immortal! The wisest choice would be to follow him.... But had not Harry... there was a silence... now was the time to do it...

Wormtail shifted back into his human form and walked toward Harry. Bright green eyes looked up and he giggled "Worm Worm!"

Present

Peter was sitting on a chair with Harry on his lap, when Sirius and Remus opened the door.

"S-Sirius... R-Remus... my friends... my old friends..."

* * *

Please Review!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own hp don't sue

A/N SORRY!! I meant to update ages ago! To those who are reading 'Phoenix Flame' I _will _update that soon. I've got a good part of it written already so I'll try and get it up sometime soon.

Thanks to Kemenran and those who keep reviewing my fic!

Chapter 4

* * *

_Peter was sitting on a chair with Harry on his lap, when Sirius and Remus opened the door._

"_S-Sirius... R-Remus... my friends... my old friends..."_

__

Sirius made to pull out his wand, but Remus grabbed his arm and sent him a warning look as Peter lazily moved his hand to encircle Harry's little neck. Both men froze and Peter smiled, it was as his master had said.

"Don't you dare hurt him." Sirius hissed viciously, eyes never leaving his baby godson.

"I'm not going to h-hurt him," Peter said, "in fact I'm going to t-take him on a little t-trip. You-Know-Who has a-asked that he a-attend his rebirthing p-party."

"Can't you even say his name? You sold Lily and James to Voldemort! You're going to let him kill their only son and you _can't even say his name!"_ Sirius roared at Peter who winced at the sound of his master's name.

"Sirius, Sirius what could I have done? The Dark Lord ... you have no idea...he has weapons you can't imagine...I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me-"

Sirius cut off Pettigrew's whimpering, "DON'T LIE! YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM! YOU WERE HIS SPY! HOW COULD YOU CALL YOURSELF OUR FRIEND? HOW CAN YOU HOLD HARRY AFTER WHAT YOU DID?"

"He would have killed me Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVED DIED!" Sirius yelled, "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOU FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

"It doesn't matter now." Peter said quietly, "My master will return and reward me for my loyalty."

Remus shifted slightly causing Peter to jump and pull out a silver dagger from his robes, "Don't even think of it Remus. You always were the smart one, why not join Him? The way werewolves are treated these days.... He could change it-"

"How? By making wizards and witches so afraid of us they won't dare approach any my kind? Voldemort would have us slaughter village after village. Joining him will never bring peace." Remus said in a bitter tone, "Let Harry go... he's only a child..."

"A child that caused the Dark Lord's momentary downfall and my end if I don't deliver him to the Deatheaters." Peter squeaked, "I have no choice..."

"You're insane if you really think I'll let you go with my godson." Sirius snarled, having drawn his wand while Peter spoke and pointing it at his head.

Acting quickly, Peter made a cut in the crook of Harry's right arm, and ignoring Harry's cries collected his blood in a small vial. He tucked the vial carefully into his robes and took a step back toward the window, keeping an eye on Sirius' wand and furious face.

Peter began to tremble as Remus drew his as well and approached him slowly. Desperately he tightened his hold on Harry's neck slightly and held the boy out in front of him, "Think of Harry..." Pettigrew said softly, "You don't want me to hurt-"

A sudden roar filled the air. Sirius didn't even question the distraction and lunged for Peter, knocking both Harry and the knife out of his arms, managing to give a muffled shout of "Remus grab Harry!" before falling with a thud on top of Peter.

Sirius' fists pummeled every part of Peter he could find as their wands lay forgotten beside them. They rolled on the floor, Wormtail desperately trying to reach for the knife...

Remus was, for once, grateful for being a werewolf as he managed to catch Harry before he hit the floor and cradled the little boy to his chest. Holding Harry tightly he snatched up his wand and summoned Sirius'.

He turned to the fight and muttered a spell that sent them flying apart. Remus then turned his wand to Peter when a sudden wave of white-hot pain consumed him. His flesh felt like it was burning... In a daze of pain, Remus fell to the floor trying not to drop Harry. There was a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking before the spinning room slowed and remained still.

Sirius was on the floor beside Remus trying to calm Harry's cries. Sirius looked down at Remus with concerned eyes as his friend slowly sat up, "What happened?" he asked gripping his now blood-soaked left arm.

"Pettigrew threw that knife at you. Barely nicked you, but as its silver..." Sirius broke off as a loud series of 'thuds' sounded from the other side of the room.

"Blimey!"

"Good to see you too, Hagrid. You just may have well saved Harry's life." Sirius said with a tired grin, still rubbing Harry's back soothingly, "It's alright Harry..."

"Wha' happened ter you!" Hagrid stuttered.

Remus ignored Hagrid and looked toward the wall where the white curtains were blowing about in the wind let in from the gap where the glass was broken.

Turning back to Hagrid, he said, "Get Dumbledore."

* * *

Sirius paced the living room floor restlessly with occasional red sparks flying from his tightly held wand. Remus sat on the couch with his left arm covered in bandages, holding Harry in his arms. His little face was slightly red from crying and he was sucking on his small white and blue pacifier with a snitch painted on it that Sirius had nicked from the remnants of Godric's Hollow. His little hand still clutched Remus' shirt, even though he had fallen asleep from exhaustion a few moments ago. Neither man spoke and there was silence until Hagrid's heavy footfalls came from outside and he appeared in the doorway.

Most people would have been terrified at the sight of the huge man standing in the door way with his wild hair being tossed by the wind of an upcoming storm and illuminated by the flickering firelight, but Sirius just glanced at him not faltering in his pace.

"Did you contact Dumbledore, Hagrid?" Remus asked abruptly covering Harry up a bit more in the blanket as a cool breeze entered the room from the open door.

Hagrid sheepishly closed the door quickly and said in a quiet voice, "He should be here soon..."

As if in response to Hagrid's answer, the fireplace sprung to life once more with emerald green flames that silhouetted the tall frame of Albus Dumbledore. There was grimness in his face as he listened to Sirius' description of the prior events and his normally twinkling eyes darkened to a stormy gray.

There was silence after Sirius' finished. Dumbledore stared at the flames flickering in the fireplace for long moments. He sighed and looked at the small child in Remus' arms through the half-moon glasses that sat halfway on his crooked nose.

"I'm afraid Voldemort got just want he wanted this evening." He said after a moment, eyes still on Harry, "While he didn't obtain Harry physically, thank Merlin, he did however get his blood for his rebirthing ceremony," Dumbledore sighed again, "and in using Harry's blood has the protection his mother left him when she was killed."

"Protection?" Remus asked frowning slightly, "Did Lily cast a spell or...?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "There is no visible sign, not a scar or a mark...It is in his very skin... Lily's profound love of her son protected him against one of the darkest curses known to wizard kind... and now that Voldemort has Harry's blood, he will have the same protection..." Dumbledore looked grimly up at Sirius, "Harry is in far more danger now than ever before. He must be taken to a safe location now, before Voldemort has a full body once again. Voldemort will not stop until his victory his secured, something that can not be done while Harry lives."

"Why was he after Harry anyway?" Remus asked suddenly, "Lily and James never said why they had to go into hiding, only that they had to...."

"There was a prophecy made before Harry was even born. While Voldemort did receive half of the prophecy, before his informant was thrown out of the bar, he chose Harry to be the one described. However his lack of information also played a part of his downfall. The exact wording of the prophecy is

The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not... and either must die at the hands of another for neither can live while the other survives....the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."

"Are you absolutely sure it's Harry?" Sirius asked after a long silence, "I mean," he ran a hand through his hair, "He can't be the only kid born at the end of July...."

"I'm afraid there is no mistaking it is Harry." Dumbledore said in an uncharacteristic sign of sadness, "The scar on his forehead proves it..."

"Will mark him as his equal...." Remus whispered softly, amber eyes widening in comprehension.

"Then why give him to those godforsaken muggles?" Sirius snapped, resuming his pacing, "Wouldn't he be safer with wizards?"

"Like he was just now?" Remus said bitterly.

Sirius slammed his fist into the wall, "Why did it have to be Harry?! He's a baby! An innocent! Why-?" He fell silent, and stood, shaking, facing the wall.

Dumbledore turned to Remus and said softly, "You had better leave soon. Take only what you need." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a letter and a small green marble.

"When you are ready take this portkey. It will take you to a house near Cork, Ireland that I acquired years and years ago. It's a rather large house with a house-elf named Aideen taking care of it. Don't worry Remus, it's a few miles away from Cork, in the country," Dumbledore continued, raising a hand to cut off Remus from protesting, "you should be at a far enough distance to keep the villagers safe, and I have no other use for it at the moment."

"Will it be safe?" Sirius asked looking at the far corner of the wall, back still turned to Remus and Dumbledore.

"There are many wards and other protective spells placed on it, along with a charm that will stop muggles from even noticing the house. With the proper precautions, Harry could grow up safely there..."

Sirius nodded and finally turned to face them, "Remus?" he asked meeting Remus' gaze. The werewolf nodded slowly, "Alright."

"Very well then," Dumbledore said and carefully set the marble on the table, "There is one other matter we must discuss. While Harry had his blood protection from his mother, the safest place he could be is with his aunt, his only living relative. However, should an attack occur, we may be forced to depend on that blood tie nevertheless. This would require Harry to stay with his aunt-" He raised a hand to silence Sirius' objection, "for a period of a few months at least. I promise, Sirius, that it will be a last resort only, but the time may come when Harry could use all the protection he can get."

The old wizard looked sadly at the little baby sleeping on the couch before sighing, "I know that it has been hard on the both of you, so please try and enjoy parenthood. Harry is safer in a place where he won't be forced to grow up to be a martyr. Just give him the childhood Lily and James would have wanted him to have."

An hour later, two young men left behind everything they knew to raise a child they loved more than life, in a place they hoped would be safe.

* * *

Thanks again to all my reviewers I really appreciate it Keep them coming!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Thanks for all the reviews! I'll try and get the next chappie out sooner!!

Chapter 5

* * *

The wind blew gently through the open windows making the white curtains sway and billow out slightly. The sun pushed a golden rectangle of light further into the room, illuminating the floating specks of dust into bright glitter. The hardwood floor shone slightly as the light soon filled the window and the forms of toys were uncovered from the shadows. 

A toy broomstick leaned against a corner beside a well-worn red ball that had kept its owner happily playing in the backyard for hours on end. A few pictures hung on the light blue walls, including a man and woman on their wedding day and a picture of two men holding a baby boy.

On a small table beneath the window lay a scattered bunch of crayons, colored paper, and a few books with classic stories and large colorful pictures. Some small clothes and a pair of untied shoes lay scattered in the middle of the floor hiding a circular rug with a picture of a white stag with a border of lilies from sight. Beyond that was a wooden toy chest that occasionally wobbled as one or two of the toys woke up and proceeded to wake the others.

A wardrobe sat on the far wall from the window and was slightly open with a few sleeves and pant legs peaking out from the shelves. The sunlight soon found its way toward it and woke the occupant of the small bed a few feet in front of the wardrobe. Bright green eyes blinked sleepily and a five year old Harry Potter pushed back the red comforter a far as his legs could stretch. Rubbing his eyes a bit to get all the sleepiness out of him, Harry yawned a bit then began his morning bounce on the bed, giggling as he did so.

Outside the door, Remus smiled as he heard the tell-tale sounds of the squeaky springs of Harry's bed and entered the room pretending to frown deeply. "Harry, how many times do I have to tell you not to bounce on the bed?"

Harry beamed at him and said mid-bounce, "A trillion times!"

Remus sighed in mock-sadness, "I guess I'll just have to punish you again, let's say... a trillion tickles?"

Harry was laughing before Remus even caught him and began to tickle him mercilessly, stopping only after Harry was gasping for breath and announcing proudly, "There you go! A trillion tickles!"

"That's not a trillion!" Harry gasped.

"Oh you want more?" Remus asked and continued his attack, laughing when Harry wiggled away saying, "No more tickles!" over and over again.

"Alright then pup," the werewolf smiled and ran a hand through his ruffled hair, "time for breakfast."

"Beat you there!" Harry challenged and shot out of the room, with a chuckling Remus behind him.

For the past four years, Dumbledore's house had become a sanctuary. Harry had grown up safely, not counting all the near heart-attacks Remus endured when Sirius was left alone to baby-sit for a long period of time.

Remus had gotten a job dealing with magical creatures and demons around the country. Banshees, troublesome grogochs, boggarts, but thankfully no complaints of werewolves have been made. His job forced him to leave for long periods of time and it was hard seeing Harry's sad face before he left. The upside of it was as he traveled all over the country; he learned all kinds of folklore stories and almost always had a small present for Harry when he returned.

Sirius on the other hand stayed at the house to look after Harry and begin to home-school him. Dumbledore remained in close contact with Sirius for the first year they had lived in Ireland to clear up matters with the ministry to ensure Sirius would not be blamed or associated with Lily and James' death. It was the hardest time on the both of them, trying to start a new life while making sure the old one was forgotten by everyone else. Aideen the house-elf was a god sent to them. She made sure that by nightfall everyone had been fed and was clean, told stories to Harry and showed Sirius and Remus how to care properly for him.

Harry, Remus had noticed, had begun to slip in and out of a British accent and into a more Irish one. Harry had a few friends in the village and whenever the little 'cherubs' came over and ran wild all over the house, Harry tended to slip into the same accent of his friends. He seemed so happy here and Remus thanked Merlin they had gotten out of the country when they did.

To keep in touch with what was going on at home, Remus made sure he received the _Daily Prophet_ everyday. The wizarding world was not doing well since that night at Halloween. Not long afterward, the Longbottoms' had been attacked at their home on the outskirts of Diagon Alley. The Deatheaters were in a rage over the fall of their master and had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, thinking that Mr. Longbottom, being an auror, would have information on the whereabouts of the last Potter. They where put under the _Cruciatus_ curse to the point of insanity, while their only son Neville cried in his crib upstairs. When the aurors had reached the house, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom were beyond any help. To Remus' knowledge, they were now permanent occupants of St. Mungos while the Deatheaters were tried and placed in a Ministry prison, as Azkaban was still in dissent.

Remus hadn't been sure what reaction to expect from Sirius when his cousins were found guilty of the crime along with Crouch's son. It still turned his stomach at the sheer cruelty of the act those Deatheaters had committed. Sirius' reaction had been a grunt and mutter about how they weren't really his family to begin with.

It hadn't taken long for the Marauders to create a taboo of mentioning Sirius' family. His own little brother, who was killed barely a month after joining the ranks of the Deatheaters not long ago, was ignored to the point of non-existence, save for the last few hours of the train ride home, where Sirius would become louder and more obnoxious than normal and then silent as the wheels slowed and screeched to a halt.

It was about a month later when Voldemort's body was reformed. As a celebration Deatheaters had attacked a safe house that was still in use for another cautious few months.

They were made of a dark gray metal that was forged for wizard wars by goblins. While the little creatures crackled over their gold, wizards of many ages were packed into the dark lightless buildings. Families with small children that were not old enough to be safely hidden inside Hogwarts' walls and often those wounded in battle lived within the safe houses. It was not at all uncommon for an auror to prefer to duel wounded or take chances within his or her own houses then live in one of those places.

It was rare that one could be successfully attacked and the Deatheaters proclaimed it was a sign that the dark lord would win the war. It was still unclear how many people had died in that godforsaken place and those who did survive were forced to choose a new safe house to reside in.

A curfew had been put in place from nightfall until dawn. That was when those who favored the dark lords showed their support through violence and destruction of large wizard cities such as Diagon Alley. But when the dementors were sent, the streets were disserted even by rodents.

Still, there were whispers in the wizarding world that the dark lord had yet to kill the baby boy that had temporarily destroyed him. There were rumors that said he was alive and safe, training to destroy Voldemort once and for all. Those who dared to say it allowed called him 'the-boy-who-lived'.

Remus sighed and watched as Harry clambered up onto a wooden chair in the kitchen by the table where Aideen had breakfast out already. Sirius appeared as Remus poured a glass of milk for Harry, with his hair sticking out all over the place and no shirt on yet.

He yawned widely and ruffled Harry's hair, "Morning."

"Padfoot up before noon?" Remus said raising an eyebrow, "That's a first."

"Of course I'm up Moony, there's food." was Sirius' reply, winking at the giggling Harry.

Remus just rolled his eyes and handed Sirius a plate.

"Old Marrok struck again," Sirius commented between bites of jam-covered toast glancing up from the _Daily Prophet _at Remus through his messy black hair.

Remus said nothing and poured himself some tea from the pot on the stove.

"Who's Marrok Siri? Harry asked, looking up at Sirius with jam covering most of his chin.

"Well," Sirius said wiping Harry's face with a cloth until he wiggled free making a face at Sirius, "He is a werewolf-"

"Like Moony?" Harry interrupted.

"Yes, like Moony. Anyway, he's err, trying to get people to... treat werewolves nicer. Only he's very... loud about it..."

"Harry," Remus cut off the precocious child, "why don't you go and get ready for Seamus and Brenn. They're coming over after breakfast."

"'Kay!" Harry chirped and hopped off the chair, hurrying upstairs.

Sirius leaned the chair back on its back legs and spoke to the ceiling, "You don't want Harry to know about-?"

"Harry doesn't need to know about that, just...I don't want Harry to know how cruel people can be until he has to..."

"Remus," Sirius said, still looking up at the ceiling, "I know you didn't want to tell Harry in the first place that you were a werewolf, but I can't help but think you're ashamed of it..."

Remus snorted, "I'm certainly not proud of it."

Sirius glared at the ceiling for a moment before allowing the chair to fall with a loud 'thud' and turned his glare to Remus who met it calmly, "It's not like it's your fault." He muttered.

"Tell that to everyone else," Remus said bitterly sipping his tea and sighed, "I agree with Marrok's ideas but the things he does..."

"Is getting people's attention like he wants," Sirius finished.

Remus just sighed but was saved from answering by the doorbell ringing, a rather annoying squawk that amused Harry's friends so much they tended to press the doorbell as many times as possible before someone answered it.

Sirius winced at the second squawk and transformed into padfoot to race toward the door.

"Enter the cherubs," Remus muttered under his breath and closed the newspaper on the table.

* * *

A/N hope you enjoyed! Reviews and Criticism are welcome! 


	6. Chapter 6

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Hope you all are having a great holiday! Sorry for the wait! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6 

Remus winced at the sound of the second crash from upstairs and tightened his hold on his tea cup. Sirius made another mark on his tally with a grin, "They're going to beat their own record at this rate."

Remus rolled his eyes, "I'm not sure it's a good thing, Padfoot."

Sirius' reply was cut off as he suddenly had a lapful of Harry, who had jumped off the top of the stairs with his toy broom and proceeded to drop onto Sirius' lapgiggling all the way. Remus looked up to see two small boys standing on their tip-toes to look over the railing and watch the scene below. Taking Harry into his lap and he jerked his head up toward the boys. Sirius grinned and was soon out of his chair and running up the stairs in his animagus form.

Harry and Remus laughed as the boys jumped and made a run for it before the black dog caught up with them and Sirius scooped them up with his human arms and brought them downstairs to sit in front of the fireplace.

"Whose idea was that?" Sirius asked leaning back into his chair.

"Harry's." Brenn and Seamus chimed.

Remus caught Harry's arm as he tried to wiggle away but froze when he caught sight of the faded scar on Harry's right arm. Wormtail had left that scar years ago…

"Moony?"

Remus blinked and looked up into Harry's confused green eyes. He grinned and released Harry's arm to ruffle his messy black hair.

Green flames erupted in the fireplace making everyone jump. Remus looked over Harry's head toward Sirius who mouthed 'Dumbledore'

Remus lifted Harry and placed him down on the floor and said to the three boys, "Go on upstairs you three, I'll call you down for lunch later."

"Kay!" the three chimed and Harry threw his small arms around Remus' neck for a moment and dodged Sirius' tickling hands to run up the stairs with his friends.

Both Sirius and Remus turned their attention toward the fire and the man standing in front of it looking up at the stairs with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Dumbledore." Sirius greeted, getting the wizard's attention.

"Harry's certainly grown since the last time I've saw him." Dumbledore commented, "How is he doing?"

"Very well," Remus said wincing at yet another crash from upstairs followed by a chorus of giggling, "If a little wild when around his 'cherub' friends." Sirius chuckled as he made another mark on his tally, "A new record." he informed them cheerfully.

Dumbledore chucked, but then turned sober, "I'm afraid what I have come to tell you is less cheerful news. I take it you have kept up with the news in England?"

Both Sirius and Remus nodded. "This isn't about Marrok, is it?" Sirius asked glancing at Remus out of the corner of his eye.

"Not directly, no, but it is evident that he has gained much more support than anyone would have guessed. We shall no doubt be discussing him in the near future, but this news is a little closer to home. Voldemort is widening his search for Harry. He is sending his followers out further and in more remote locations. I'm afraid it will be only a matter of time before one of his men stumbles upon you here."

"WHAT!" Remus and Sirius shouted in unison.

"He's coming to Ireland?" Remus asked gripping the chair's arms tightly.

Dumbledore bowed his head, "Voldemort found both your homes empty and deserted years ago and knew you must have left the country or at the very least moved to the outskirts of England. He sent descriptions of you to all his contacts and their leads led him here."

He looked up into their faces for a moment before saying seriously, "The time is approaching when you will have to leave again," He sighed deeply, "perhaps without Harry."

"I am not just going to dump Harry somewhere!" Sirius shouted getting to his feet, "We're all he's got!"

"Our agreement stands Sirius." Dumbledore said looking at Sirius through his half-moon glasses resting on his nose, "Harry will remain with you unless there is a deatheater attack near your hiding place. Should that occur, I will take Harry to his Aunt and Uncle's until the protection is complete, that is, only a month at the very least."

Sirius said nothing and sunk back into his chair. Remus looked at him for a moment then turned back to Dumbledore, "What do you want us to do?"

"You have that little stag charm?" Dumbledore asked.

Sirius stood wordlessly and pulled it out of a small chest atop of the mantle above the fireplace. The gold charm glinted in the fire light as Sirius handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore cast a few more spells on the little charm before handing it back to Sirius. "I must get back to Hogwarts," he said softly, "Keep an eye on the news and be ready to run if it comes to that." He sighed, "I'm sorry I cannot give you more cheerful news, but you must be aware of what could happen. Harry is precious to you, guard him well."

Sirius slumped back into his chair as the fire turned a vivid green and Dumbledore disappeared into the flames. "Gods Moony, we could lose him. We could lose Harry."

"Siri?"

Sirius stiffened and both men whirled around to see Harry on the last stair of the staircase, looking at them with wide green eyes.

Harry walked over to Sirius and reached up with his short arms, "You haven't lost me Siri. I'm right here."

Sirius gathered him in his arms and buried his face into Harry's soft messy hair, "So you are," he murmured softly, holding him tightly.

Remus knelt down by Sirius' chair and gently stroked Harry's back, "Where are Brenn and Seamus, Harry?"

"They're taking a nap." Harry said softly, voice muffled in Sirius' chest. Sirius loosened his hold and Harry looked down at Remus, "What did Siri mean Moony?"

Remus sighed and brushed Harry's hair out of his vivid eyes, "You remember what we talked about when we told you about your parents?"

"You said Voldymort hurt mum and dad so I live with you now that they are in heaven." Harry said.

Remus smiled weakly at the child's mispronunciation of the dark lord's name and said, "That's right Harry. Sirius and I only want to keep you safe from Voldemort." The smile broke, "and to do that, you might have to go away for a little while. But only if something bad happens, we don't want you to go."

"Something bad?" Harry asked innocently.

"Don't worry about it Harry," Sirius finally spoke, "We'll keep you safe, I promise." He placed a soft kiss on Harry's forehead.

Remus picked Harry up into his arms and Harry let his head fall onto Remus' chest sleepily, "Come on pup, its time for your nap too."

* * *

Meanwhile in England the Weasley family grows up within the war. 

"Fred! George! Get back here this instant!"

Arthur Weasley smiled as he entered the house. It wasn't all that uncommon to hear those words over and over again. His wife appeared looking flustered with the youngest Weasley, Ginny, on her hip. "Arthur! You're home early!"

"Molly," he greeted her with a grin kissing her cheek and then Ginny's little head. "Fred and George giving you grief again?"

"DAD!"

Mr. Weasley grinned at the herd of redheads hurrying toward him, "Hello Fred, George, Ron, Percy, Bill, and Charlie."

He glanced up at family clock as his children chattered around him, it was good to all the hands pointing up at the word home. A wave of warmth filled him as he looked at his family laughing and chattering away.

It wasn't until the dinner had been cleared away, the children cleaned and put to bed, and all of them fast asleep did he return to his earlier thoughts.

Harry Potter was in danger, more so now than ever. For his only enemy was not just the dark lord, he suppressed a shudder, but the Ministry as well. Wizard moral was very small and the Ministry was desperately trying to have some icon to raise hope and who better than the only one to survive an attack and at infancy at that! Should Harry return home he would be forced to become the Ministry's martyr and the father couldn't stand the thought.

On the other hand, Voldemort was widening his search and would eventually drive the small family to run. Sirius and Remus would never let anything bad happen to Harry if they could help it and would do anything to keep Harry as well.

The little five year old boy, the same age as his youngest son, with such a burden already on his shoulders.

"Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley called softly, "What's wrong?"

"Things are taking a turn for the worst, Molly. Little Harry Potter will not have an easy life."

"That poor boy." Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Has something else happened?"

Mr. Weasley's face darkened, "The dark lord is searching for him. Sirius and Remus may have to run soon, but I don't know where they could go for safety. If the Ministry gets a hold of Harry, they will turn him into their martyr."

"That little boy? Hasn't he been through enough?" Molly bristled.

Arthur just sighed and ran a hand over his tired face. "There is something else, Molly. That order Dumbledore told us about. I think we should join."

"But the children-"

"Will have the Order's protection." Arthur finished, "Please Molly, we can't just keep watching. People are dying. We have to do what we can."

Mrs. Weasley was silent for a long moment before resting her head on her husband's chest, "Alright Arthur. Let's join."

They stayed in each other's arms for a long time after that. While in Ireland two men lay awake the weight of the world on their shoulders.

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Thanks to my beta-reader Kemenran and for all of my reviewers! Hopefully I will be able to update more this week! Dawn 


	7. Chapter 7

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Happy New Year! Here's the first chappie of 2005!

This chapter is dedicated to all the victims of the tsunami, our payers are with them.

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Chapter 7

A large fork of white lightning lit up the night sky as the torrent of rain continued to pour down. The rain pounded onto the roof and filled the gutters, the sound dimmed only by the occasional bout of thunder as the storm approached. Another flash of lightning illuminated little Harry's room, a complete contrast from that morning, and shone on the five-year-old twisted up within the cover trapped within a nightmare.

Harry saw tall dark shadows with long black bodies and white faces with no mouths. They roamed a flaming city, shooting emerald green light, which burned Harry's eyes and made his forehead ache, at the people fleeing them. Their darkness was spreading through the flaming city and a man appeared, huge and towering, over the little city his arms spread wide, long pale fingers stretched out to squeeze the life out of the place Harry now recognized as the town he so rarely got to explore. Large flaming red serpentine eyes opened and a rather high pitched voice whispered "_I found you Potter…"_

Harry awoke with a gasp, covered in a cold sweat, and winced as another flash of lightning lit up his room. He struggled to untangle himself from his covers franticly, and ran out of the room as the following crack of thunder soon followed. He hurried to Sirius' room and trembled as there was a second crack of thunder. He stood up on tip-toe, turned the knob of the door and flung himself into the room towards the bed.

Sirius, who had been awake listening to the storm and thinking about what Dumbledore had said, jumped as his door was suddenly thrown open and little Harry came flying into his room.

"Harry?" Sirius lifted the trembling child onto his bed and let him snuggle into his chest, face buried into the column of his throat. "What's wrong? Did the storm scare you?"

"Bad dream." Harry answered in a muffled voice lifting his tear-streaked face up to look as his godfather.

"I'm sorry pup. What was the dream about?" Sirius asked gently wiping the tears off Harry's face with his thumb.

Harry sniffed, "T-there was t-these black shadow people. A-and they were shooting this b-bright green light at people and the village was on fire! T-then this man with r-red eyes came and he said he f-found me." Harry gave a great sniff, "That's when I woke up. It was scary." He buried his face back into Sirius and Sirius vaguely began to rub his back soothingly as his thoughts going a thousand miles an hour. Oh god… Harry was dreaming about Him… Voldemort had found him….

He stood up suddenly, surprising Harry who looked up at him in confusion. He grabbed one of the blankets on his bed and pulled it off with one movement. He wrapped Harry up and scooped him up into his arms.

"Siri?" Harry's childish voice came from the small cocoon Sirius had made for him.

Sirius kissed the top of Harry's head and whispered softly, "Its okay Harry, we're going to wake up Moony."

Not willing to put Harry down or out of his sight for any moment, Sirius simply pounded on Remus' door until it was suddenly pulled open. "Sirius do you have a fetish with pounding on my door, or do you just feel the urge from time to time?" Remus asked in annoyance, rubbing his eyes.

"We need to talk Remus." Sirius said gruffly, unconsciously tightening his grip on Harry. Remus frowned and looked over at the bundle in Sirius' arms. "What happened?" He asked, reaching over to wipe a stray tear off Harry's face.

"Come on," Sirius said stepping back and jerking his head toward the stairs, "Let's go downstairs."

Remus placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of Harry after freeing him from the blanket so now it simply was draped over him. He had not said a word after Harry's description of the dream and Sirius dark meaningful looks toward him. He placed his tea cup on the table and rubbed his temples slowly for a moment.

With a sigh he looked up into Sirius' pale blue eyes and said softly, "Do you think it was a premonition?"

"How else could a dream like _that_ get into Harry's head?" Sirius growled glaring into his full cup.

Harry's large green eyes were following the conversation like a tennis match and asked, "What's a premonition?"

"Something that's going to happen, but hasn't happened yet." Remus explained still looking at Sirius.

"Oh… So Padfoot thinks the bad man will come?" Harry asked taking another sip of his drink.

"Sirius are you sure you're not just over-reacting because of what Dumbledore said?" Remus asked warily.

Sirius was on his feet immediately, "I am NOT just over-reacting Remus! How else could Harry have seen him like that?" His hands clenched at his sides before falling back limply, "We have to go Remus. Let's just take Harry and go… anywhere. I refuse to just sit here and wait for Voldemort and his lackeys to find us."

"Sirius…" Remus just looked at his friend for a long moment, and then sighed, "Alright. We'll leave soon, but firecall Dumbledore and tell him what's going on. Then… we'll figure something out."

Sirius nodded and took a long draft of tea. Harry yawned and looked up at Remus, "The storm stopped Moony."

Remus listened for a moment then smiled down at the child, "So it did." He glanced up at the clock on the wall, it was well past midnight, "Come on Harry, you should get some sleep."

Remus scooped up Harry from his chair and wrapped the blanket loosely around him, "Moony?" Harry asked as Remus sat down on the couch with Harry in his lap; Sirius had knelt down by the fire.

"Yes pup." Remus said as he brushed Harry's messy hair out of his face.

"Are we moving?"

"I think so Harry." Remus sighed.

"Why?" Harry asked shifting so he could look up at Remus, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Because," Remus said wondering how to word it to the five-year-old, "we think you would be safer somewhere else. I've taken you to a few places, it would be just like that only for longer."

Harry yawned and snuggled into Remus' warmth, "Could we come back?"

"Maybe, now get some sleep puppy, its very late." Remus said softly laying Harry gently down onto the couch and covering him up.

He was asleep within a few seconds and Remus moved to kneel down beside Sirius who had managed to contact Dumbledore.

"And he said the man with red eyes told him that he had found him. Harry doesn't know anything about how Voldemort looks, how could he have know otherwise."

Dumbledore's face was pensive for a moment and he did not speak. "A connection was forged between young Harry and Voldemort the night he received his scar. It is possible that through this connection Harry might have received emotions or thoughts from Voldemort himself and they appeared to him in the form of a nightmare."

"So will Voldemort be able to do the same to Harry?" Sirius asked worriedly.

Dumbledore sighed, "As a child Harry's mind is much too fragile to break into, but as he matures the threat will become more eminent." He turned his gaze to Remus, "What do you make of it Remus?"

"We never gave Harry a vivid description of what Voldemort looked like or what his voice sounded like. I doubt Harry could just dream something like that. But I don't like the thought of Voldemort having an influence on Harry's dreams." He paused for a moment glancing back at Harry as he shifted in his sleep, then asked, "Should we leave Ireland now?"

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak but before he said a word a loud siren went off inside the house.

"Damn." Sirius swore and grabbed the chest atop the mantle to pull it down onto the floor. Remus got up and went over to Harry who had woken up with a start.

"Remus, grab Harry, we need to leave now. The wards have been broken." He looked up into Remus' eyes, "They found us."

The door burst open with a burst of light and three Deatheaters entered the room. Remus pulled Harry down onto the floor as Sirius shouted _"Stupify!"_ brandishing his wand.

Pulling out his own wand he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him towards the kitchen, shielding him from the spells that rocketed towards them. A sudden silver light streaked across the room, illuminating it for a brief moment, as a crack like a gunshot rang throughout the room and the house shook, causing Harry to whimper and Remus to tighten his grip on the boy.

Remus and Harry could see Sirius' silhouette turned toward a new figure standing in front of the fire. The dust and smoke from the brawl settled and Remus could hear Dumbledore's voice speaking rapidly to Sirius. Looking down, Remus hugged Harry gently and lifted the small boy against his hip. He walked over toward Sirius and Dumbledore stepping over the bodies of the Deatheaters.

"Moony," Harry whispered suddenly, "It's the shadow people!"

"Hush now pup." Remus said softly, gently brushing Harry's hair.

The two men turned toward Remus and Harry as they reached them, both looking angry and worried.

Dumbledore nodded his head briefly toward Remus before continuing, "The order has been contacted and more members are arriving. The city is overrun with deatheaters; all those who can are helping. I want you to-"

CRASH!

The window exploded, covering them with a rain of broken glass and wood fragments. Harry cried out in fear as Remus tried to shield him from the falling debris. Placing Harry down behind him, Remus joined Sirius and Dumbledore in sending a stream of curses and jinxes toward the intruders.

Over the din, Sirius heard something crack behind him and out of the corner of his eye he saw a shape approach from behind them, turning quickly he stunned the deatheater, and with one look at Harry's terrified face knelt and scooped Harry up.

"Remus!" Sirius yelled over the sound of spells and the destruction of the buildings around them, "We have to get Harry out of here!"

Dumbledore twisted his wand in a complicated movement and the deatheaters closest to the house were suddenly thrown back as if struck by an invisible force. "Go out the back and apparate as close to Hogwarts as you possibly can. Tell Minerva of the situation. Hurry."

Sirius nodded to him and, followed by Remus, headed out toward the back of the house and entered the kitchen. Neither expected the sudden jet of red light that flung them backward into the wall. Sirius was seeing stars when he felt Harry being ripped from him. Struggling, he used a coat hanger to pull himself upright; Sirius rubbed the back of his head and looked around for Harry's captor, "Harry!"

There was a burst of white light from down the hall. Using the wall for support, Sirius hurried as fast as he could toward the study. He jumped when he saw the deatheater, but was even more surprised to find that Lucius Malfoy, his mask had fallen off, was unconscious and covered in the books that had fallen from one of the three bookcases that lined the wall of Moony's study. "Harry?" Sirius called out. A soft whimper responded and Sirius made his way into the far corner where the bookshelves did not meet. Harry was curled up there, his knees brought up to his chest, face very pale, and eyes unfocused.

"Harry? Its okay, Harry, I'm here." Sirius soothed, "Come on Harry, we have to get out of here." Harry sniffed and looked up at Sirius' face, before slowly letting go of his knees and slowly reaching out to Sirius. "I didn't mean to, Padfoot, he was just so scary…"

"Shhh, pup it's going to be all right. I'm not upset with you. Come on, let's get out of here." Harry stood shakily and walked over to Sirius, "That's my boy." Sirius murmured softly into Harry's hair as Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck.

Sirius picked Harry up, wincing as the moment was too fast, as the pain in his head was kind enough to inform him. "Sirius? Is Harry alright?" Remus called down the hall, holding a clean dish towel to head. He had hit his head off the corner of a shelf when they had been thrown backward and opted to stop the bleeding before tearing off to find Sirius.

Not bothering to answer, Sirius headed toward Remus frowning as he saw the bloodied dish towel, "Alright Moony?"

"Peachy." Remus said curtly, as another window shattered upstairs.

"We is to be going right now!" a squeaky voice sounded suddenly, as Aideen appeared with a large bag, "Is masters Harry and Remus being alright?"

The shouting grew louder, "Not now Aideen, come on we have to go." Sirius said looking back down the hall, as the lights flickered on and off, finally dieing into pitch black.

"Hold on tight Harry." Sirius whispered to Harry as he pulled out his wand and apparated along with Remus and Aideen. Harry normally kept his eyes clenched tightly, but this time he kept them open to see whirling colors all blurring together faster and faster as cold air whipped his hair around wildly, when it all stopped.

Harry blinked a few times and looked around in the confines of Sirius' arms. They were at the edge a forest. Harry had never seen trees so high; they creaked in a menacing way but Sirius was already moving away from the forest. Harry turned to see a huge stone castle across a large lake.

"This is Hogwarts, Harry." Remus said softly.

"Ah, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, I've been expecting you." A no-nonsense voice came crisply from the entrance, "Come inside and get warmed up."

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A/N a little longer than usual. Reviews, comments, criticism are welcome. Thanks hope you liked it! Dawn

Thanks to: cool, A Teenage Werewolf, Sasinak, rosiegirl, anethakitty- lol again with all the questions.

Talriga- thanks for your review. I always appreciate a review that criticizes a bit and goes into detail. The whole point of this fic is to try out different styles of writing and see what flows and works best. Thanks for all those titles I have read and gone to many of those sites already but you gave me some things to look for. Thanks again and I hope you continue to read my fic.

Headmaster Cromwell: Thank you for both taking an interest in my fic and also inviting me to join Salem. I have looked over the site and I must say I am impressed with the detail put into it. I haven't decided to enroll as a character yet, but I will think about it. Thanks again.


	8. Chapter 8

Tattered Innocence

Child of the New Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N wow really has been awhile hasn't it… err whoops? Update should come much sooner than this, but I'm back to writing **Phoenix Flame** again so it may take a while. Since I already have part of the next chappie written I've added a snippet at the end of the chappie.

Thanks for all those who stuck with this fic, sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 8 

Sirius stared into the dancing flames trapped within their prison of the eastern tower's fireplace. Professor McGonagall had led them there not an hour ago, saying in a lowered voice that Dumbledore would see them pending his return from their once home. Had it really been only an hour ago when he had seen these deadly flames celebrating their freedom over the town they had raised Harry in for four years? He had thought they had been safe. So many memories…all gone.

There was a soft 'c_lick'_ and Sirius looked up to see Remus' weary form closing a door leading towards one of the three bedrooms of the tower. He took a seat next to Sirius' in front of the fire and leaned back murmuring, "Harry's finally asleep."

Sirius glanced at Remus out of the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the fire saying, "Did he ask about what happened in Cork?"

Remus sighed, "Yes, mostly about if everyone was going to be okay and why the creatures from his dream attacked Cork."

Sirius sat up and asked sharply, "He doesn't think it's his fault surely?"

"I don't think he knows what to make of it. How would you feel if something you dreamed came true at his age?" Remus sighed and ran a hand over his face resignedly, "We'll have to talk to him about it in the morning."

He glanced over at Sirius staring moodily into the fire before saying, "You remember what Dumbledore said when we first moved to Cork?"

Silence.

Remus glared at Sirius in annoyance, "Sirius!"

"I'm not going to let Dumbledore take him just like that!" Sirius shouted rising from his chair, "So Cork didn't work out. We'll go somewhere else, farther away from England, America even." He glared right back at Remus, "I'm not going to let him take away my godson from me."

"'So Cork didn't work out'? Sirius, the town was destroyed! Lucius Malfoy had Harry in his hands! Where can we go where Voldemort won't find us? His forces haven't decreased over time Padfoot, they've multiplied. After the deatheaters found their master could survive death, their loyalty has increased tenfold!"

"We're Harry's family, Remus! How can we just abandon him like this? How can you even suggest it? Harry's safer with us! He's grown up with us always being there! And now we're shoving him off to these godforsaken muggles he's never even met, much less heard of, who hate every type of magic that does or will ever exist!" Sirius rose from his seat, " He's already scared of his own magic, what's going to happen to him once those Dursleys get hold of him? He'll deny and fear what he is! I can't just stand here and watch as his life is destroyed. Lily and James wanted us to raise him… can't we just start over again?"

Remus stood as well facing Sirius, with a look on his face Sirius had only seen once in his life when he had nearly gotten Snape killed back in their school days, "Don't you _dare_ say that I would abandon Harry under any circumstance. He's as good as our son and that's the only reason I'm suggesting this, to _protect_ him! I know what the Dursleys are like but it will only be for a month and then he'll come back to us!"

"So your saying we should just throw Harry to those godforsaken muggles and just skip on home while he suffers for a month?" Sirius shouted his fingernails indenting his flesh as he clenched his fists so hard they turned a pale white.

"One month of misery is better than a short life Sirius." Remus said quietly, his amber eyes darkened to a burgundy.

Sirius felt the anger slip from him as fast as it came, "But he's suffered so much already, Remus, isn't there anything we can do?"

"There's still Grimmauld Place, Padfoot." Remus said softly.

Sirius shook his head furiously.

Remus simply nodded, "Then we'll look for a house outside the country."

"Let's ask Harry where he wants to live," Sirius said gruffly, "Give him something else to think about."

Lupin nodded and sat back down into his chair yawning.

Sirius hesitated then did the same muttering, "Sorry for shouting, but…"

"I know Padfoot," Remus murmured closing his eyes, "I know."

There was a long silence, broken by the soft tolling chimes of the mantel clock announcing it was four in the morning. Sirius sighed, "We should both get some sleep."

Remus simply nodded and stood up yawning.

"I'm going to check on Harry first." Sirius said over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs.

"I hope we didn't wake him up," Remus muttered as he went to his room.

Sirius opened the thankfully silent door and approached the bed quietly. Harry's clothes were folded neatly on a chair beside his bed with this trainers tucked under them on the floor. Harry, himself, was fast asleep in the bed clutching his favorite stuffed black dog up against his chest, resting his chin on the dog's soft head. Sirius sat on the very edge of the small bed, causing it to dip slightly, but Harry barely stirred. Reaching out slightly, Sirius gently stroked Harry's soft messy back hair from his face, not even pausing when the famous lightning bolt scar came into view. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of Harry's head and whispered quietly, "Things will get better Harry. I don't know when, but you'll be able to live with us somewhere safe and no one will expect anything thing from you except from being the wonderful person you are. Someday Harry, I promise you that."

* * *

Fawkes arrived the next morning in a whirl of crimson and gold feathers bearing a note from Dumbledore requesting Sirius and Remus go to his office within the hour to discuss the aftermath of the attack on Cork. Harry was oblivious to the reason behind his guardians' tenseness at the letter and amused himself with petting Fawkes silky warm feathers. Sirius scribbled a reply stating that they were on their way on the back of the letter and tied it to Fawkes' leg. Fawkes nuzzled Harry's face once and then with a few last beautiful notes, disappeared.

Once Harry had finished his orange juice, Sirius and Remus dropped him off with Hagrid who had eagerly agreed to keep an eye on the boy he had not seen since he was a baby. As the giggles of Harry's introduction to Fang, Hagrid's large boarhound who's cowardly persona was most unfit for his name, faded into the background noises of the outdoors so did Remus and Sirius' smiles.

"There's got to be another way." Sirius said stubbornly as the approached the gargoyle statue that was the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"I hope so Padfoot." Was all Remus said as the ascending the revolving staircase.

The news Dumbledore gave, however, was something Sirius would have given anything not to hear. Harry was going to the Dursleys' as soon as they replied to an owl Dumbledore had sent earlier that night.

"How long does he have to be there?" Remus had asked while Sirius had simply dropped his head into his hands.

"A month would be the shortest amount of time for the protection to work. Three would be best but knowing your opinion of the subject, I think we can make do with one." Dumbledore had answered with that unbearably calm face, "The blood protection is the strongest kind of protection I can offer Harry." Dumbledore's voice grew soft, "I know you are not happy with this decision, but it's for Harry's well being. Tom will not hesitate to kill Harry and any added protection he can get may even save his life."

"And after the month is up?" Sirius asked still looking down at the floor.

"He may move into the home of your choosing provided it has efficient protection from Tom." Dumbledore sighed and looked as if all his years of living had ganged up upon him at that particular moment, "I'm afraid that after Harry's near capture, Tom is even more determined to find and kill him. We may yet be forced to teach him magic early, so as to give him the chance to fight back and get away from any attackers. I understand he already showed signs of magic during the attack on Cork?"

Sirius nodded looking up, "He knocked out Lucius Malfoy, sent him flying into some bookcases. But," His expression hardened, "I won't have him be yours or the Ministries' pawn. He's a child and attacking Malfoy like that scared the hell out of him. I understand that he should be taught magic to defend himself but I want Remus and I to teach him, so he doesn't grow up thinking that magic is just for causing pain. Sending him to the Dursleys now is a huge mistake. They hate magic of any variety and will just confirm Harry's fear that magic is bad. If sending Harry to the Dursleys is the only way I will agree to it, but at least let Remus and I spend a little more time with Harry and explain what happened to him. Children loose control of their magic much more often after the first time and I don't want Harry to be terrified of what he is."

Dumbledore stared into the stubborn face of Sirius Black for a moment before turning to Remus, "Do you agree Remus?"

"Yes," Remus said firmly, "Harry might even think that he was responsible for the attack on Cork because he dreamed it! If we were given time to at least make him understand what did and will happen, he will be able to get through his time with the Dursleys unscathed."

Dumbledore stared into the faces of the exhausted yet determined young men before him. He could understand Sirius' decision about Harry's magic and recalled the plan he had made for Harry's future before he had seen the child and held him. Tom would forever consider him weak for allowing his emotions to interfere with his judgment, said emotions had led them into the position they were in now. He had allowed Harry to live with his Godfather and Uncle before instead of his Aunt and the situation had resulted in the destruction of a town. But now he knew that his decision was for the betterment of Harry's life, not The-Boy-Who-Lived, the savior of the wizarding world's life and so his great plan had fallen to ruin before it had truly began.

Dumbledore allowed himself a sigh and made his decision, "You may stay with Harry here at Hogwarts for two weeks. At the end of that time, upon hearing back from the Dursleys, Harry will live with his Aunt and her family for one month. During this time he is to have very little contact with the wizarding world. I will allow you to owl each other once a week but there will be no other contact between you. Upon Harry's return, he may live with you provided that the necessary wards are placed and safety precautions are taken. I will see to the Ministry in allowing Harry to carry a wand at an early age, you will most likely be responsible for him in that. Please do keep me notified of his progress in his magic skills."

Both Sirius and Remus nodded and rose from their seats. "Thank you," Sirius said softly before following Remus down the stairs, leaving Dumbledore to his own musings about the future of the wizarding world.

The old man rose and walked over to the window over looking the grounds. He easily spotted Hagrid and soon found Harry near by with something fury in his lap. Dumbledore knew he was stalling for time. The war was going on still, yet he was reluctant to force such a young child to bear the weight of the entire wizarding world. He sighed, he was stalling yes, but time was running out.

He smiled, blue eyes twinkling, as Harry caught sight of his guardians approaching him and carefully removed the furry creature from his lap to race toward them and be scooped up and whirled about in the air by his godfather, laughing the entire time.

Enjoy what childhood I can give you Harry, Albus Dumbledore thought looking on at the fragile family.

* * *

Heheh… hope you enjoyed! Please review, criticism, praise, and flames are welcome. Dawn 

_Snippet from chappie 9_

Harry was full of questions about magic and normally returned back to the castle chattering away as the crickets began their nightly song and the sun began to fade into the inky blackness of night, but tonight he was silent as he snuggled into the warmth of Sirius' chest sheltered from the cold of the night by his godfather's robes.

"You're quiet tonight pup," Sirius commented as the ascended the stairs entering the castle.

"Siri where are we gonna live now?" Harry asked softly looking up at his godfather.


	9. Chapter 9

Tattered Innocence

Child of the New Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Sorry the updates have been so few and far apart. I'll be done with school on June 10 so after that things will hopefully speed up! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Dawn

* * *

Chapter 9

Remus watched silently as Sirius demonstrated each wand movement slowly and Harry mimicked him the instant his arm stilled. It had only been a few hours since their talk with Dumbledore, but Sirius insisted they begin early. While Remus had no doubt this was also to stall time until he was forced to tell Harry where his future lay, Remus could not give any objections, especially after the look of utter joy and amazement on Harry's face once he had successfully completed his first spell, a simple _Lumos_ charm, with the small wand Dumbledore had gotten from Mr. Ollivanders by special order. The Ministry was hesitant to allow as young as Harry to carry a wand, but as he was _the _Boy-who-lived and as Dumbledore was quite persuasive, they agreed to allow him a temporary wand to be used only under the supervision of a fully trained adult or on Hogwarts' grounds.

Mr. Ollivander was reluctant to give Harry a wand without seeing which one fit him perfectly, _"The wand chooses the wizard you know…"_ but seemed satisfied with the promise of returning to purchase Harry's true wand once he outgrew his temporary one.

'Which shouldn't be all that long…' Remus mused as he continued to watch Harry. The young child had taken to magic like a duck to water, insisting upon his guardians to teach him from nearly dawn till dusk. Had this not been the reaction they had both been hoping for, they may have been rather annoyed at being woken just as the sun was rising by an eager looking Harry insisting it was morning now and they had to get out of bed.

Harry was full of questions about magic and normally returned back to the castle chattering away as the crickets began their nightly song and the sun began to fade into the inky blackness of night, but tonight he was silent as he snuggled into the warmth of Sirius' chest sheltered from the slight chill of the night by his godfather's robes.

"You're quiet tonight pup," Sirius commented as the ascended the stairs entering the castle.

"Siri where are we gonna live now?" Harry asked softly looking up at his godfather.

Sirius winced and glanced over hopefully towards Remus who simply gave him the _'don't even think about it'_ look. He sighed, so much for Moony's help.

Between Remus' glare and his godson's expectant stare, Sirius knew his procrastination time had run out, "Well pup we were going to leave it up to you. After…"

At Sirius' side, Remus gave an impatient sigh as the silence lengthened and said, "Harry, do you remember that talk we had before we were attacked?"

Harry scrunched up his face in thought for a moment then shook his head, causing his wayward hair to fall haphazardly across his face.

The trio reached the door and slipped inside the castle, heading towards the secret passage behind a tapestry that led them straight to their temporary home. Sirius muttered the password, "_Loyalty"_ when they stopped at a bare section of wall and the wall melted into a wooden door leading them into the tower's sitting room. Sirius placed Harry onto the floor and lit a fire in the stone fireplace with his hand. He then sat on the arm of a chair and watched as Remus sat in another his eyes on Harry who was still waiting for his answer.

Remus sighed wishing that Harry was a little older so he could better understand what was going on, a month to a five-year-old was close to an eternity. Nevertheless, Remus plowed ahead once they were inside the tower and had some more privacy, "I told you that if anything bad happened you might have to go away for a little while, remember? Well, those people who burnt down our home are really bad people and we both made a promise when we first got you that we would send you somewhere safe if those bad people found us."

Harry's lip trembled and his green eyes filled with tears, "You don't want me anymore 'cause I made the bad people come?"

"No!" Remus near shouted, the harshness behind his words caused Harry to flinch, so he immediately softened his tone, "No, no, no, Harry! That's not it at all!" He murmured, slipping off the chair and onto his knees to be level with Harry on the floor. Remus wrapped his arms around Harry who buried his face into Remus' chest crying, "Then why do I have to go away?"

Remus pulled back and held Harry at arm's length, "What happened back at home was _not_ your fault. You didn't do anything wrong and we would _never_ want to get rid of you for any reason! Sirius and I love you very much and we only want what's best for you!"

"But I don't wanna go away! I wanna stay with you forever!" Harry wailed.

Remus gently brushed Harry's black hair out of his face and murmured softly, "It will only be for a month and then you'll be back with us. Think of it this way, you get to spend time with your aunt, uncle, and cousin and then you can help us pick out a new house and move in the minute you leave with us."

Harry sniffed, "Promise?"

"I promise," Remus murmured pulling Harry into another hug, looking over his shoulder up at Sirius, who had been silent the entire time and was simply staring at the child in Remus' arms.

Harry pulled back, wiping his face on his sleeve, and looked up at Sirius, "Siri?"

Sirius slipped off the chair with ease and joined the two on the floor gently ruffling Harry's hair, "We'll have you out of there as soon as we can. Then you can pick out your new room and we'll have lots of fun, okay? I'll even start teaching you how to pull some of the pranks your dad and I did when we were in school."

Harry nodded with a watery smile and gave a last small sniff.

Sirius caressed his cheek gently, "We will always want you with us Harry, never doubt that. We aren't mad at you and this way you can meet your aunt and uncle."

"Are they nice?" Harry asked.

Sirius and Remus shared a brief glance over his head, "They will be nice to you." Sirius said firmly, a hard note in his voice.

Harry nodded and yawned, causing both his guardians to smile.

Remus straightened and offered his hand to the child, "Come on Harry, let's wash your face and get you to bed."

Harry nodded, "Night Siri." Sirius hugged him tightly muttering a "Night kiddo," into his hair before letting him go. He watched them go for a moment before a tapping at the window drew his attention away.

It was one of the Hogwarts delivery owls and Sirius couldn't help but idly wonder where Fawkes had been sent off to. The short note was written in Dumbledore's small loopy handwriting and stated that the Dursleys had agreed to take Harry in under the circumstances that it was _only_ for one month and that they had no, quoting Petunia's letter, "_contact from others your kind"_ until it was time for Harry to leave.

Sirius scowled, his plan for sneaking in with Harry as Snuffles his delightful pet dog, dashed as Dumbledore continued onto Petunia's demands to include magical pets, saying that even any owl post between them would be through Fawkes so as to not impose any magic on the Dursleys whatsoever.

"Who's the note from?" Remus asked closing Harry's door behind him.

"It's from Dumbledore; apparently the muggles have agreed to take Harry but are to see neither hide nor hair of us until we come to pick him up." Sirius said angrily.

Remus sighed, "I thought that might come up. Guess Padfoot will have to stay on the side lines after all."

Sirius looked surprised, "You knew?"

Remus grinned wirily, "Come now Sirius, I've know you for how long? I knew it would come up sooner or later since you did tell Dumbledore everything."

Sirius sighed, "You really think this is the best thing for him?"

"It's the best we can do for now." Remus sighed.

* * *

"Is that the _best_ they can do!" Marrok exclaimed angrily, pounding his fist on the rough wooden table in front of him. It had been _weeks_ since he had last heard from his contacts in the Ministry and they bring him this!

"The Ministry is afraid of a revolt, and with a move as drastic as this they need to keep it under wraps until the plan is in operation and the population has no need to argue against it, the few who would…" Alsi said calmly in complete contrast to leader. She was second in command to Marrok and had known him too long to be fazed by his anger.

Marrok glared at her through his strange silver eyes that held flecks of his original onyx black which had faded when he had been turned as a child. She resisted the urge to roll her own more common brown eyes and settled for turning back to the report in her hands.

"Look Marrok, we have to move fast to prevent this from happening. If the Ministry does open all the registered werewolf files, then it will be that much easier to track them down and force them into a draft. If we don't open this to the public, by the time they announce it, most people will be so desperate they will call us in saying we're the stronger fighters."

"Or rather send a monster to kill a monster," Marrok said grimly, "if this law or whatever they call it does pass, the next step will be sending younger and younger werewolves to the war before we are sending children in our place." He shook his head allowing a few strands of steel gray hair to escape from a band at the nape of his neck.

Asli couldn't help but agree, the ministry required that all werewolves must register within ten days of being bitten. Should any refuse the Werewolf Capture Unit gets called in and they are granted to use any amount of force they 'deem necessary for their own safety', needless to say, few rouge werewolves make it out without a scratch.

One of Marrok's goals was to prevent this from happening especially among the newly made werewolf children. Felane Amoux for example was a special favorite of Marroks'. She alone survived a werewolf attack on her family and witnessed the Ministry put the werewolf to death and feared to tell anyone she had been bitten. They discovered the mark and immediately began treating her like a beast instead of a little girl. One of the Capture Unit even pointed to the dead creature, now in human form, saying "that's where you'll end up one day". It was only through Marrok's intervention that she didn't become a ward of the Ministry.

Ironically though, the Ministry still had a file on each of them despite the fact that they hadn't registered due to their misconduct against the prejudiced programs and groups or what Marrok called "the Ministry's anti-werewolf bigotry".

Felane was especially dedicated to the werewolf children, no doubt due to her childhood. The only worry Alsi had with Felane was her anger towards human wizards in general saying things like "they don't understand, they have everything so easy its all just handed to them". While it was understandable why she felt that way, Alsi reprimanded her saying hatred would never give them equal rights, though it was a known fact throughout the camp that Felane would only truly listen to Marrok.

"What are you going to do?" She asked Marrok softly, watching him pace.

He sighed and looked up towards the ceiling, "Albus Dumbledore has contacted me again."

"About the alliance?" Alsi asked, knowing that Dumbledore had been the leading member of the International Confederation of Wizards to attempt further alliances with werewolves and other such creatures such as the vampires and was one of the few members who actually kept their words about future laws and other attempts to better the werewolves' lot.

"Yes," Marrok said still looking up at the ceiling, "And the fact that little Harry Potter will be going into deeper hiding than before and therefore the Ministry will no doubt want to give the wizarding world something to compensate."

"Such as an army of werewolves." Alsi finished grimly.

"Among other things, yes." Marrok nodded, "How can the Ministry turn children into martyrs like this?" he burst out angrily, "Harry Potter is only five, yet his guardians are scrambling to keep him from falling into the Ministry's control."

Alsi frowned, "His guardians?"

Marrok nodded again, "Outcast of the Black family, Sirius Black and _werewolf_ Remus Lupin."

Alsi raised her eyebrows, "I take it Dumbledore pulled some strings to make that happen?"

"Naturally," Marrok said, "But even if I were to sink as low as to use a child, a five-year-old's opinion of werewolves wouldn't be much help. Maybe when he is older but for now we must consider this Remus Lupin as a possible candidate."

"So you'll speak to Dumbledore?" Alsi asked.

"I leave tomorrow."

* * *

Reviews are apprecated!

thanksto- Marine Ruphert- good question but I can't see the Dursleys being big on guests as they are being 'forced' to take care of Harry. I did think about sending Sirius alongbut in the end I decided against it.

rosiegirl, jedi padfoot, and RiverView- I am trying to keep this fic different and something will happen at the Dursleys but Harry isn't going to take their crap lying down...


	10. Chapter 10

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Yes, I know its way past June 10th but blame it on summer and writer's block. But I promised myself, self you will write this before your birthday! And as that's tomorrow, here it is! YEAH!

* * *

Chapter 10 

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY GET BACK HERE IMMEADITLY!"

The sound of the screaming woman broke the peacefulness that usually filled Hogwarts grounds during the summer holidays and caused Harry and his guardians to jump and look for the source of the sound.

Two young boys, both with flaming red hair and identical right down to the last freckle, were running towards them at full speed ignoring their mother's calls. They came to a halt right in front the trio, both out of breath but grinning anyway.

The boy on the right drew breath to speak but was cut off by his twin gasping and pointing to the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead, "Blimey! Are you-?"

"He _is_!" The other twin said in awed tone, "Aren't you?"

Harry looked up at Remus and Sirius with a confused look, hoping they could explain what these two boys were talking about. Sirius' face darkened as he wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders protectively.

The twins gulped at the look on the dark man's face, but the one on the right plowed on bravely, "Aren't you Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded within the arms of his godfather, "How'd you know?"

"Fred and George was it? Your mother's coming over," Remus interrupted, "She looks very angry."

With one last curious look at Harry, the twins turned and hurried back over to their mother.

"How'd they know my name Siri?" Harry asked as he watched a red-haired woman with a bunch of other kids around her start telling the boys off. Both of the boys didn't seem to even be listening to the lady but kept pointing back at them telling her something. One of them looked his age…

Sirius looked over at Remus, "Is Dumbledore calling an Order meeting today?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Yes, he told us yesterday. Where you even paying attention?"

"No, that's what you're here for." Sirius answered with a cheeky grin, then felt a small tug on his robes and looked back down at Harry.

"How'd they know my name Siri?" Harry asked again, feeling antsy as the people were coming over.

Sirius bent and lifted Harry into his arms, still seemingly ignoring his question, as Harry instinctively wrapped his small arms around Sirius' neck. Remus met Sirius' eyes briefly, wondering how they were going to explain to Harry that he was famous for something he didn't even remember.

Remus smiled at Molly and her family as they walked up to them.

She smiled back, though somewhat strained, no doubt due to the twin's antics and watching her other boy who looked around Harry's age, "Hello Remus and Sirius, it's been too long." She smiled kindly up at Harry who was watching her curiously, face half buried in Sirius' neck, "And you must be Harry, I'm Mrs. Weasley nice to meet you."

Harry muttered a soft "Nice to meet you too," before hiding his face completely.

Molly's smiled faded slightly as she turned back to Sirius, "I apologize for my sons," she said sending them fresh glare as they tried craning their necks to get a better look at Harry. At the glare they winced and stood still save for the occasional fidget, "They seemed to have forgotten their manners lately."

At Remus' discrete kick, Sirius muttered, "Its fine Molly."

She turned to Remus with a smile, "Well, I hoping that Harry would like to play with my boys during the meeting, if that's alright with you of course."

Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus interrupted saying, "That sounds great! What do you think Harry?

Harry nodded quickly and glanced at Sirius, "Can I Siri?"

Caught between Harry's pleading green eyes and Remus' sharp look, Sirius knew he didn't have much of a choice and nodded. Harry hugged Sirius for a moment before jumping out of his arms to join the Weasleys on the ground. Sirius watched as Harry led them off to explore the grounds with Molly's cry of "don't get into trouble" at their retreating backs.

Molly and Remus started off towards the castle with Sirius trailing behind slightly. He glared at the back of Remus' head in annoyance. It was always Remus who was over-protective, not him, _'I know Harry isn't in any danger at Hogwarts' _Sirius thought as they approached the doors_,' but he's never really been exposed to his 'fans' and he doesn't even remember what he's famous for. People will expect so much of him and he'll be singled out an-'_

"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled.

"What?"

With a long suffering sigh, Remus gestured to Molly to go on ahead, before turning back towards Sirius, "Look Padfoot, Harry will be fine with the Weasleys. He needs to have some fun with other kids his age and he can't practice magic all day, every day."

"But what if they treat him like the Boy-Who-Lived and not like Harry? He's never been exposed to-" Remus cut Sirius off.

"Sirius you're being ridiculous. We can't protect Harry from everything in the world and this is something that would have come up sooner or later. Harry's a good kid and I think we can stop the fame from going to his head." He smiled, "Besides, knowing Harry and the Weasleys, they'll forget about all the famous nonsense and be playing Quidditch in no time."

"How many kids is she up to now?" Sirius asked grudgingly.

"Seven," Remus said as they main their way across the Entrance Hall, "Six boys and one girl. I believe Ron is Harry's age and Ginny is about a year or so younger."

Sirius sighed grumpily, "You're supposed to be the over- protective uncle and I'm supposed to be the cool godfather who gives rides on his giant motorbike."

Remus laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere near that thing."

* * *

Dumbledore's office was far too small to hold the large number of Order members that were called to the meeting, so they all gathered in a large circular chamber on the sixth floor. The majority of the space was taken up by a large wooden table, covered with spots of ink and potion that had accumulated over the years of its use, and the large amount of chairs pushed around the table. 

It was here that Lily and the Marauders had been initiated mere days after they had graduated. It had seemed a great adventure, when they had first entered the room, to join a secret order and fight the evil doers. Any light-heartedness they had when they joined vanished soon after they began the actual work, but it only made them more sure what they were doing was right. They were doing what Dumbledore had always talked about 'choosing what was right over what was easy', they were making a difference.

When Harry was born, it suddenly became very obvious how the war had affected them. When Lily and James were told to go into hiding with their new baby, what had Sirius done but suspect that it was Remus who was the spy, Remus who had done nothing but try and make the best of his condition and who had resisted the dark side unlike many other werewolves.

And the cost for all their mistrust, their failure to see the real truth, were the lives of the very people they were trying to protect… all but one. They had barely managed to save Harry from his parent's betrayer and then again from Voldemort's Death Eaters.

Yet here they were again, scrambling to keep one step ahead of Voldemort's claws, by throwing Harry to people he had never met nor ever heard of, and who will most likely treat him horribly, just for 'choosing between what is right over what is easy'.

But as both Remus and Sirius took their seats once more around the table, neither realized that it was for the purpose of 'choosing between what is right over what is easy' that they would not enter this room again for many years.

Dumbledore rose and silence fell immediately, all eyes turning towards him. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. As you all have no doubt heard, Voldemort's" nearly the entire room flinched at the name, "attack on the city of Cork was thankfully unsuccessful. His main goal, of course, being to capture Harry Potter has failed but due to how close he was to succeeding, extra measures must be taken to ensure Harry's safety; namely, a blood protection given to him by his aunt, and only living blood relative. To allow this protection to develop, Harry Potter will live with his muggle aunt and uncle for one mouth, at the end of which, he will return to the care of Remus and Sirius."

"Why not just leave Potter at his relatives? I believe it has become obvious that Black and the werewolf are incompetent in raising a child, especially one as acclaimed in the wizarding world as Potter is. Leaving Potter with the muggles would be safer for the supposed savior than letting him be spoiled rotten by a _werewolf_ and a considered 'blood-traitor'," drawled Severus Snape, eyeing Remus and Sirius vindictively.

"We're Harry's family!" Sirius shouted rising from his seat and glaring at Snape with unreserved hatred.

"But not by blood," replied Snape resting his fingertips together looking at Sirius with equal loathing, "and as you have both demonstrated, incapable of keeping a mere child safe. But," he added softly, watching Sirius' face, "if Potter is anything like his father, it is a wonder he lasted as long with you as he did, if even part of his arrogance was passed down…"

It was only through Remus' intervention of grabbing Sirius' wrist and forcing him back into his seat that Snape was able to leave the room again as he entered. But Remus' own anger, albeit more controlled than his friends', had also been roused and he said quietly with his eyes glowing slightly, "Sirius and I are more than capable dealing with deatheaters Severus, but our main priority is to keep Harry safe, which is difficult with the number of deatheaters growing, as you are more than well aware, and as we did have no problems for four years I believe that you have no room to speak as you have never been in hiding with a young child, who the entire wizarding world has declared its savior before he could read properly, which we taught him how to do as he could not go to a muggle primary school or, hell even out into the town without us nearby. We are all that Harry has ever known and it is only for his protection that we're letting him go now. So I would suggest you shut the hell up about what you have no understanding of."

Snape opened his mouth furiously, but was cut off by Dumbledore, "That's enough! The point of the matter is, Severus that I decided against Harry living with his aunt until he came of age after hearing of Voldemort's resurrection. He has already begun using a practice wand to come to terms with his magic which appears to be manifesting much stronger than what is normal for children his age. With all of Voldemort's servants after Harry, this can only benefit him if there is another attack. At this point all we can do for young Harry is give him all the tools we can to ensure his survival."

Dumbledore turned to face Remus and Sirius, "I must ask the both of you to begin looking for another secure location quickly. After Harry's stay at his aunt's is over, he must be able to go straight into a protected area. And" he added in a slightly quieter voice, "As you inquired about the health of the Finnegans, I am happy to report that they are all in fine health."

"At Sirius' and Remus' grateful nods, Dumbledore rose to his full height and said, "Any knowledge of Harry's whereabouts must be kept silenced. While Voldemort cannot touch Harry there as long as the wards are working, it is best that he and his supporters don't know where to look for him next.

"On another subject, most likely as a response to the werewolf Marrok's recent upsets, it appears Voldemort is once again threatening to unleash Fenrir Greyback on the wizarding world's children. As some of you are well aware," Dumbledore glanced over at Remus who made a made a convulsive movement with his hands,

"Greyback considers it his mission in life to contaminate as many people as possible to build up an army of werewolves to overcome the wizarding world. Voldemort is more than happy to supply Greyback with prey in return for his services, as Greyback specializes in children to "raise them away from their parents and to hate normal wizards". Due to his disturbing fetish for attacking children it is not surprising that both his and Voldemort's threats are not going unnoticed."

"How's Marrok dealing with it?" growled Moody from his corner of the room.

"As he is most likely on his way here at the moment, I doubt that he is aware of the situation at this time." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Why is he coming here?" asked Remus.

"I invited him." Dumbledore responded calmly, "The Ministry has chosen to alienate the werewolf kind as a whole and they are, in turn, alienating themselves from 'normal' wizards and turn to the Dark Lord to give them a better life. Being such a public figure and one of the few leaders who are also against Greyback, Marrok seems the perfect candidate. Being as outspoken as he is, I have no doubt that if is granted some anti-werewolf laws to be annulled he will make sure to see that those in existence allow werewolves to live an almost normal life."

"But is it a wise move to invite a rebel werewolf leader to Hogwarts? The Ministry has a bounty on his head!" said Arthur Weasley frowning slightly.

"I doubt that Marrok is worried about the Ministry storming Hogwarts' gate," said Sirius dryly watching Remus' reaction out of the corner of his eye, "If they can't catch him outside of Hogwarts without the wards and, for that matter without an invitation to be here, I can't see the Ministry going anywhere near Marrok." He gave his bark-like laugh, "At least not without a fully trained Auror team."

Arthur gave a strained smile, "While it is true that Fudge is a coward, I just thought to remind you that Marrok isn't a respectable figure in the eyes of the Ministry."

"Who are these days?" Sirius sighed leaning his chair back on the two back legs.

"Either way," Dumbledore interrupted, "Marrok is coming to confer on some of the persisting rumors that the Ministry is attempting to force the werewolves into a draft."

Sirius glanced over at Remus with a look of alarm, but Remus looked unsurprised if only a little more grim, and wouldn't meet Sirius' eyes.

"I have heard rumors of the sort…." Kingsley Shacklebolt said slowly in his deep voice.

Dumbledore nodded grimly, "Most likely Marrok will know more on the subject and just how valid these rumors are." He sighed and looked around the room, "Now unless there are any more points to make… meeting is adjourned."

Sirius let all the legs of his chair fall to the ground with a bang and walked with Remus through the small crowd, towards the door, "Did you know about the werewolf draft?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed, "There have been other attempts to make a sort-of werewolf-army by the Ministry, they've all failed before now, but now that we've been at war for so long… I don't know if the public is going to be so desperate to allow it."

"They can't! It's not your fault that you turn into a bloody wolf every full moon! You never asked for it! Besides, you're normal every other day…."

But Remus just sighed and shook his head, "Not everybody thinks like you do Padfoot…."

They were silent as they quickly made their way back to the Great Hall, by use of some secret passages they had found during their wanderings of Hogwarts, and went out into the grounds.

That silence was then quickly broken by the sounds of Harry and the Weasleys shouts and both men were openly grinning at the sight of the miniature Quidditch game.

"As I said," muttered Remus as they approached the boys, "they forgot all that famous nonsense and played Quidditch."

Sirius just rolled his eyes and caught Harry in his arms as he dropped from his broom to land in front of them.

* * *

A/N thanks to all my reviewers, sorry again for the long wait and due for times sake and because both my email accounts haven't been working lately this chappie is unbetaed so sorry Kemenran I'll try and send you the next chappie earlier and actually send it this time. Till next time- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is the best movie ever! Dawn 


	11. Chapter 11

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Once again sorry for the long waits between updates! For those of you who are interested in my other fic **Phoenix Flame**I have _not_ given up on it and will be updating… errr… eventually. I have outlined the next couple chappies so I just need the time to write them.

Thanks to Kemenran for being my beta reader!

* * *

Chapter 11 

The days passed much too quickly for both Sirius and Remus. They had both agreed to celebrate Harry's birthday early and on one of Harry's last days at Hogwarts. Harry was thrilled at the news, especially when he found out Seamus, Brenn, and all of the Weasleys were coming. Remus had also invited a little boy named Neville Longbottom, whom Harry had never met before, but who had a birthday around the same time as Harry did.

The guests started to arrive right after lunch. It was a beautiful day outside so Remus and Sirius had put up a set of picnic tables out near Hagrid's hut. The half-giant himself surprised Harry with a birthday cake, which the boy happily accepted but caused Sirius and Remus to glance worriedly at each other knowing how well Hagrid could cook.

Seamus and Brenn were the first to arrive and all three of the kids were in the air in a matter of minutes. Both Remus and Sirius were relieved to hear from Mrs. Finnigan that Cork had been put back to normal and no deaths had occurred. Though she was pleased to hear that they had gotten out unscathed, she was disappointed to hear that they would not be returning, saying that Seamus and Brenn had been missing Harry terribly.

The Weasleys and Neville Longbottom, accompanied by his formidable-looking grandmother, arrived shortly afterward. Harry and his friends landed quickly to meet them. After a few stern words from his grandmother, Neville approached Harry timidly and wished him a happy birthday. Harry grinned at the round-faced boy and offered him one of the large wizard crackers Dumbledore had sent as a present. He tugged on the end and it went off like a cannon engulfing them in blue smoke and dozens of chocolate frogs fell like rain on top of them.

Fred and George looked thrilled at the crackers and grabbed a handful, pulling five at the same time creating such an explosion it sent both of them flying back five feet. Harry and the others laughed as chess pieces, hats, balloons, mice, and candy went flying everywhere. Fred and George, both covered in what looked like blue shoot, laughed gleefully at the flower bonnet that had landed on Sirius' head.

To distract Mrs. Weasley from yelling at her sons, Remus quickly announced that it was time for Harry to open his presents. Fred, George, and Ron quickly shoved a large package onto Harry's lap. Pulling off the wrapping paper he grinned when he discovered a bunch of sweats and some homemade cookies all around an emerald green sweater with a large gold H sewn into it.

"Mum made you a Weasley sweater!" Ron said.

Harry barely had time to say thank you when Seamus and Brenn shoved their present onto Harry's lap. "This is from both of us!" They said cheerfully.

Harry ripped off the wrapping paper to find a practice Quidditch set. All the Weaselys cheered in delight. Remus helped open the box and Harry threw out the Quaffle for them to play with as he thanked Seamus and Brenn.

Neville came up to him shyly and handed him his present. Harry grinned as he pulled off the paper to see a magical creatures book with colorful moving pictures of all sorts of creatures, "Thanks Neville!" he said cheerfully watching a large black dragon breath fire all across the page.

"This one's from me kiddo," Sirius said handing Harry a present, as he watched Neville clumsily catch the Quaffle.

"Wow! Siri!" Harry exclaimed holding up a leather jacket and helmet. Both had the same symbol of a stag, wolf, and dog looking or howling up at the moon.

Sirius grinned widely as Remus just shook his head chuckling and Mrs. Weasley looked on disapprovingly. "It will grow as you do," he said watching as Harry put on the helmet. The kids all 'oohed' as the helmet, moved from covering up Harry's eyes to shrinking to the perfect size.

Remus rolled his eyes and handed Harry another gift, tugging playfully on his helmet as he did so. "Cool Moony!" Harry said opening a bunch of books ranging from Aurors and Dark Wizards to legends and myths.

Seamus and Brenn looked up from the magical creature book to watch as Harry flipped through his new book of Aurors.

"We've got one last thing for you Harry." Sirius said standing up and waved his wand to cause a covered cage to appear out of thin air. Remus caught the cage and brought it down to Harry's level before pulling off the cover.

Harry gasped at the beautiful white owl that hooted softly as Remus set the cage on Harry's lap. "This is a snowy owl, Harry" Remus explained softly, "We thought that you could use your own owl so we can keep in touch with you. You can name her yourself."

"Thank you," Harry breathed staring at his new owl.

Remus ruffled Harry's hair, while Sirius opened up the rest of Harry's new practice Quidditch set. "Now how about a game of Quidditch!" he shouted.

Remus carefully set Harry's new owl and the rest of his presents on the table as Sirius handed out some practice brooms. There weren't enough for everyone to go at once so Harry and Ron sat out first, having already flown a little already.

Mrs. Weasley cut Harry and Ron a slice of the cake, as they watched the others fly around, but she was soon distracted by the twins dive-bombing each other and quickly marched over to stop them.

Ron tried to stick his fork into his piece of cake but it quickly got stuck. Harry tried his, only to find himself with his fork stuck as well. Ron managed to wrench his fork out successfully but in the process covered half the table with frosting, including Harry.

Harry laughed and licked the icing off his hand before trying to pull out his fork but instead sent a large chunk of cake flying onto Ron's face.

Harry grinned at Ron's face half-covered in icing and took off towards the castle with Ron chasing behind. He was sprinting towards the stone steps of the castle, when he looked back at Ron's yell and crashed headfirst into something solid. Harry fell backward onto the grass and looked up to see a man he had never met before looking down at him with an amused expression.

He had strange dark silver eyes and long hair like Sirius' only gray, he spoke in a deep voice, "What's your hurry little one?"

"S-sorry!" Harry gasped still slightly out of breath, "We were just playing and-"

"Harry! Ron! What are you two doing up there?" Remus called out as he walked quickly towards Ron. He blinked in surprise to see Harry panting on the ground looking up at none other than Marrok.

Remus cleaned Ron's face with a flick of his wand and approached Harry warily. Harry scrambled to his feet and went to Remus' side, still watching Marrok who began to speak.

"It appears your young charges have wandered off, Mr…?"

"Lupin," Remus answered, "Remus Lupin. And it seems you have already met Ron and Harry here, Marrok." He squeezed Harry's shoulder gently.

Marrok seemed slightly surprised, "You've heard of me? Well, I suppose it's only fair as I have known of you and Mr. Potter for some time." He smiled slightly down at Harry, "You'll be five now?"

"Almost six," Harry said proudly, "I got to have a party early 'cause-"

"Harry," Remus interrupted, "Why don't you take Ron and go back down to Sirius? I'll be right behind you."

"'Kay!" Harry said, and ran over to Ron before racing him back down the hill towards the others.

"I'm afraid I must take my leave as well." Remus murmured softly inclining his head towards Marrok, who returned the gesture.

"Until we meet again Mr. Lupin."

Marrok's silver eyes followed Remus down to the small party; he had never been one for strategizing or planning, he left that much up to Alsi, but something told him that Remus Lupin would be a valuable asset in the future, if not just for his involvement with the Boy-Who-Lived.

The boy had proven Marrok's earlier theory that he was much too young to even consider as a pro-werewolf advocate, '_And,'_ he mused, '_as protective as Remus is, Sirius Black is equal or more so and not likely to allow anyone the opportunity to use his godson in any manner.'_

He smirked and threw back his traveling cloak over his shoulder. He had a meeting with Dumbledore to attend.

* * *

It was growing dark when all of the guests finally left. Sirius and Remus managed to clean up the mess in a matter of minutes. They bewitched Harry's presents to float behind them as they made their way up to the castle. Harry had his new owl on his shoulder and was chatting excitedly about what he was going to call her.

They had almost reached the entrance to their tower when there was a burst of flame and a single golden feather and scroll appeared in front of them. "Its from Dumbledore," Remus said picking it up and unrolling it, "we're going to be leaving first thing tomorrow morning by portkey."

Sirius said nothing but sighed and opened the entrance of the tower to let Harry through.

"I guess we should pack his stuff, once we have everything cleaned up." Remus said softly, "Might as well let him pick out a name for his new owl and enjoy himself for a while."

Harry was lying down on his stomach in front of the fireplace flipping through one of Remus' old books with his new owl in her cage next to him, when his guardians went past to put his gifts away. It was getting late and he was starting to feel sleepy, but he wanted to pick out a magical name for his new pet. Moony had said there were lots of wizard names in this book, '_A History of Magic'_, and that he could pick out whatever name he wanted.

Harry propped himself up on his elbows as he turned the page, "Hed-wig…. Hedwig. What do you think of Hedwig, girl?" His new owl hooted softly.

"Any luck finding a name, Harry?" Remus asked flopping exhaustedly into the chair nearest the boy.

"Yep!" Harry announced cheerfully, "Her name is Hedwig!"

Remus nodded his approval, "That's a great name, Harry. Now why don't you put Hedwig in your room and get ready for bed."

Harry yawned sleepily and nodded, picking up Hedwig and heading towards his room.

"So what's the name?" Sirius asked walking over to Remus and gathering the abandoned books with a flick of his wand.

"Hedwig." Remus said stretching.

Sirius grinned, "And here I was betting it would be Quidditch."

Remus rolled his eyes, "Only you would name your owl Quidditch." He stretched again and stood, "I'm going to get Harry's stuff packed, come and say goodnight to him in a little bit."

Sirius nodded and called to Remus' back, "Quidditch is a great name!"

* * *

Harry sat on his bed clutching his stuffed black dog to his chest as he watched Remus pull out his clothes and sort them into two suitcases. In one went all of his muggle clothes; shirts, pants, and shorts. In the other went his cloaks, robes, and pointed hats. Remus hesitated when he picked up Harry's training wand. Dumbledore had insisted on no magic whatsoever, but what was the point of all that early teaching if Harry didn't have the opportunity to use it? Supposedly, Harry was untouchable at Privet Drive, but… something had him squirming.

With a quick glance around, he grabbed a red shirt and rolled it around the wand. Stuffing it at the bottom of Harry's suitcase, he said, "I'll let you keep your wand but you must never use it in front of your Aunt, Uncle, or cousin and only in an emergency, okay?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically, but his face fell when Moony shrunk his broomstick and practice Quidditch set and placed it in the 'magic' suitcase, "Moony, can't I-?"

"_No,_ Harry," Remus sighed, "you're not even supposed to have your wand with you."

"No magic." Harry sighed gloomily, and hugged the toy closer to his chest.

Remus snapped the 'magic' suitcase shut and reached over to ruffle Harry's hair comfortingly. Harry yawned and blinked sleepily, "How long do I have to go again?"

"Just a month," Remus said, helping Harry into the pajamas he'd left out, "then you can move into our new house."

"Where are we gonna live now?" Harry asked sitting up and watching Moony pile a few more things into the 'muggle' suitcase before snapping it shut as well.

"We haven't decided yet, but we'll have the house ready when we come to pick you up." Sirius said appearing in the doorway with an armful of wrinkle clothing.

Remus groaned, "Sirius I just finished packing Harry's stuff!"

"This isn't Harry's stuff, its mine!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Will you ever grow out of throwing you clothes everywhere?" Remus asked, then he scowled, "And don't think I'm doing your laundry as well!"

"But Moooonnnyyy!" Harry giggled as Sirius continued to whine.

Finally Remus said, "That's enough Sirius! Say goodnight to Harry then kindly sod off!"

Sirius shrugged and promptly dropped the armful of clothes onto the floor and swept Harry up in his arms and swung him around the room once. Remus rolled his eyes, smiling, and pulled down the covers, where Harry landed a few seconds later giggling madly.

"'Night, kiddo" Sirius whispered fondly, kissing Harry on the head, before sweeping up his clothes and walking out of the room.

"See you in the morning Harry." Remus muttered softly, handing Harry his stuffed dog. He kissed the boy's head and walked out of the room leaving the door open just a crack to allow a little ray of light in Harry's room. It would be the last night he stayed there.

* * *

Sirius was sitting in the chair closest to the fire staring intently at the flames when Remus left Harry's room 

"Harry seemed to enjoy himself," Remus muttered sitting beside Sirius.

Sirius nodded, "At least he has one good memory to last him the month."

Remus frowned, "Why do you keep acting like this is the end of the world? The muggles only have to keep him for a month. What harm could that do?"

Sirius' eyes darkened slightly and he clutched the arm of his chair tightly, "You never did meet my family." Then he sighed, "Don't you have a bad feeling about this? Ever since Dumbledore told us Harry had to go to those muggles I've had this horrible feeling about it."

Remus frowned slightly, but said, "We've never been apart for so long before that's all. But Harry can't stay so sheltered forever-"

"You don't really believe that, Remus." Sirius interrupted, "I can tell. Besides, you wouldn't have given Harry his practice wand if you didn't think he might need it without us there."

Remus flushed but pressed on, "Look, Dumbledore thinks Harry will be perfectly safe there and we have to trust his judgment."

Sirius looked less-than convinced, so Remus said softly, "We'll write to him every week with Hedwig and the moment we can, we'll get him out of there."

Sirius put his head in his hands, "And what if something bad does happen?"

Remus said nothing, again the instinctual warning flashed but he pushed it back, Dumbledore said Harry was safe at the muggles. Sirius had taught Harry a shield charm to protect himself with his wand, he would be fine.

Remus stretched again and rose muttering a "'night" to Sirius and leaving him by the fire. He needed to get some rest for his transformation in two days time and he didn't want to dwell on Sirius' warnings.

* * *

The morning dawn easily reflected Sirius' mood, as dark clouds gathered on the horizon for what looked like a large storm. They were all unusually quiet all through breakfast. Remus insisted that Harry eat a full meal, but neither he nor Sirius touched much of their own food. Once Harry was finished with his milk, he slipped down off his chair and crawled up onto Sirius' lap to snuggle against his chest. 

"_If the world is here tomorrow_

_I'll be waiting, dear, for you"_

Remus put Harry's suitcase and a muggle jacket by the door and walked over to the pair to kneel beside them. Ruffling Harry's hair gently, he murmured, "We'll write you once a week with Hedwig, Harry, okay?"

Harry nodded and sniffed, giving Sirius a hug before reaching out for Remus. Moony allowed the boy to wrap his short arms around his neck and rose, supporting Harry's light weight against him, and began moving towards the door, followed by a reluctant Sirius, who grabbed the suitcase and jacket on their way out.

They walked in silence to the edge of the grounds and allowed Hagrid to say a teary-eyed goodbye and give Harry what must have been a wiry and scratchy kiss on the cheek. Sirius took Harry from Remus and held him as Remus got a portkey, a copy of _Hogwarts, A History_, from a grim-looking Dumbledore. He vaguely heard Dumbledore explain that the portkey would allow them to travel to and from number 4 Privet Drive, but was more focused on the small boy in his arms with his head buried in his chest.

"_If the stars are there tomorrow_

_I'll be wishing on them too."_

Remus grabbed Harry's things and made a gesture for Sirius to follow him. They walked awhile into the Forbidden Forest and stopped a few feet inside. "Hold on tight, Harry." Sirius whispered into Harry's ear and grabbed onto the proffered book when he felt the boy's grip tighten on his shirt.

They landed in a dimly lighted room smelling strongly of cats and cabbage. Wrinkling his nose at the smell, Sirius followed Remus as he led the way out of the room. Harry lifted himself off Sirius' chest and looked around curiously.

"This is Mrs. Figg's house, Harry. She'll be keeping an eye on you for us and she'll give you the letters we send you." Remus said once he noticed Harry looking around.

"Ah! Sirius and Remus, I've been expecting you!" called a voice as they entered an old fashioned kitchen. An old woman with her gray hair up in a hairnet and tartan slippers on her feet, smiled and peered up at the boy in Sirius' arms, "And you must be Harry! I'm Mrs. Figg, dear. Your relatives live just down the street so if you ever need anything I'll be here."

Harry muttered a soft, "Thanks, nice to meet you," before burying his face back into Sirius' chest.

Mrs. Figg smiled understandingly and gestured for the men to follow her. "The Dursley's live just down here."

"What do you think of them?" Remus asked softly and Sirius slowed his pace slightly to give them more room.

Mrs. Figg sighed, "Personally I'm glad he only has to stay a month."

Remus sighed sadly, "Can you try to keep a close eye on him? We're both worried about this."

"Of course," Mrs. Figg said nodding, "I'll put Mr. Tibbles on the case."

"Er… thanks." Remus said glancing over his shoulder to see Sirius mouth 'Mr. Tibbles?'

The group stopped in front of number 4 Privet Drive. It looked like all the other houses around it, nothing terribly out of the ordinary.

Sirius sighed and pulled Harry off of him and set him on his feet on the pavement. "This is where we have to say goodbye, Harry." Tears filled Harry's eyes as Sirius pulled him into a tight hug, "Be good now, okay?" Sirius hesitated slightly, then said, "And don't let anyone talk down to you. Be proud of who you are." He kissed the top of Harry's head and hugged him close for a moment, before Remus knelt and did the same, whispering, "We love you, stay close to the Dursleys or Mrs. Figg okay?" Harry nodded and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand.

"We'll see you in a month." Sirius said and let Harry kiss his cheek after another quick hug. "We'll miss you." Remus whispered doing the same.

The two men watched sadly as Mrs. Figg picked up Harry's things and led the boy up to the door and rang the bell. A big, beefy man with hardly any neck, but a rather large mustache answered the door. Harry looked back at Sirius and Remus for a long moment before turning and entering the house when the large man grudging stood aside.

The two men returned to Mrs. Figg's house and used the portkey to return Hogwarts, their thoughts clouded by sad green eyes.

"_Star light, star bright_

_Let there be another night."_

* * *

A/N No idea what this song is called so if anyone can find out if this is part of an actual song they will get…. I dunno…. A cookie! Thanks to everyone who reviewed I really appreciate it! And Albus I'll try to get on writing the Phoenix trilogy! Please review again! Dawn 


	12. Chapter 12

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Sorry for the lack of updates, but my best friend's mother passed on a few months ago due to cancer and I have not felt up to writing for a long time. I hope to make updates more regular but I will not promise anything. Phoenix Flame has a new chapter that is half finished and will be put up shortly (I hope).

Because of how late this is, I'm posting it up before its beted, so sorry for any mistakes, I will upload a corrected version of it later. Dawn

* * *

Chapter 12

The first word that came into Harry's head as he stepped through the Dursley's threshold was _neat_. It was nothing like their untidy lived-in home back in Cork or the armor-lined halls of Hogwarts, seemingly bursting with magic. There was not a speck of dust to be found on any surface nor wrinkle left un-smoothed in any blanket.

Pictures lined the mantle and covered the walls, all depicting the large Uncle Vernon, a very thin blonde woman with a horse-like face, and a very large boy with a mop of blonde hair on his head.

Uncle Vernon had turned from the door and was glaring at the small boy. Remembering what Remus had always told him to be polite to everyone even if they aren't very nice, Harry smiled at his uncle.

Vernon grunted, "So Harry is it?"

Harry nodded and pointed to one of the pictures on the wall, "Are they my aunt and cousin? When will I meet them?"

"Don't ask questions!" Vernon snapped immediately, startling Harry.

"Sorry, I just wondered-" Vernon cut him off, "Look boy, we're taking you in out of charity so don't waste my time with pointless questioning!"

Harry nodded taking a step back away from his now purple-faced uncle, but couldn't help himself saying, "Moony says it's important to ask questions."

"Moony?" Uncle Vernon spat, "What kind of decent name is _Moony_?"

"It's a good nickname!" Harry said defensively.

"It's a freakish name that's what it is and that's what you are too boy, a freak!" Vernon snapped at him, a vein throbbing in his temple now.

"I'm not a freak and Moony's isn't either." Harry said quietly blinking back tears, his uncle already hated him.

Vernon snorted and gestured at Harry's belongings, "Those go in there," he said pointing at an open cupboard under the stairs, "That'll be your bedroom."

"A cupboard?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes, a cupboard, a scrawny thing like you will fit fine and don't ask questions." He turned and began stomping towards what looked like to be the kitchen where he turned.

Harry looked up, hopeful that Uncle Vernon would reveal that this had all been a joke and take him to where he was _really_ sleeping. His hopes were dashed when Vernon snapped, "Get a move on boy, you've got other things to do than lollygag all day long."

With his heart sinking, Harry dragged his suitcase to the tiny cupboard. A small cot with a few thin blankets lighted by a bare light bulb did little to raise Harry's spirits. He opened the suitcase the way Moony had shown him and pulled out his stuffed dog, "Blackie", and sat him on top of the cot. He also pulled out a picture of his parents with him as a baby and a picture of Sirius and Remus with him in their old home. On both pictures Sirius had put a bit of Spell-O tape so Harry could hang them near his bed. The figures waved at him cheerfully (Sirius had charmed the pictures so the muggles wouldn't see them move, but Harry could).

Harry closed the suitcase and set it under the cot before tugging on the cord of the light bulb. With a sigh he closed the door and went looking for his uncle.

Harry hesitated when he found his uncle watching television, he didn't want to make him mad again, but he didn't know why Uncle Vernon was mad.

"Un-uncle Vernon?" He called timidly.

Vernon grunted and glanced over at him, a frown on his face, "Comb you hair, makes you look like some…." Uncle Vernon's speech dwindled into dark mutterings as Harry ran his hands pointlessly over his wayward hair.

Before either could say another word, the door opened and the large young blonde boy and the tall skinny woman appeared. The woman's pale eyes glanced over at her husband, who had slid his bulk out of his recliner to great his wife, and after giving him a peck on the cheek she said, "Has the boy arrived yet?"

Vernon nodded and jerked his head back towards where Harry remained standing. She stared at him for a long moment, with a peculiar look on her face, but when Harry was just beginning to hope to find an ally, she sneered slightly and said, "Well don't just stand there boy, come help with the groceries."

* * *

Harry did not meet his cousin until after lunch, half a peanut butter sandwich with a glass of water, when he had wandered into the back yard. Dudley, who obviously took after his father with his many chins save for his blonde hair and eyes from his mother, was sitting in the shade encased in a large circle of toys all in arms reach. Hopping that maybe he could make a friend of his cousin, Harry walked over him.

Dudley looked up as Harry approached and stood, pulling up his falling pants and sneered at Harry, "You're Harry Potter aren't you?"

Harry nodded, hopes falling fast, "You're Dudley right?"

"That's right," Dudley said, "and these toys are all _mine_."

Harry looked over the toys; there must have been hundreds of them! "You can't play with all these at once, why don't you share?"

"Why should I share with you, you're a freak!" Dudley stated.

"Am not!" Harry yelled back, feeling his face heat up.

"Are too, daddy and mommy said so, so there!" Dudley said glaring at Harry.

"Did not! I'm not a freak, you are!" Harry yelled suddenly.

Immediately Dudley screwed up his face and let out a wail, "MUUUUM!"

Before Harry could do anything Aunt Petunia had appeared and wrapped her arms around Dudley to comfort her poor Dinky Duddydums, Dudley grinned once at Harry before wailing about how cousin Harry called him a freak for no reason.

Petunia grabbed Harry by the collar of his shirt and half dragged him back to the house, shrieking the whole time about how he shouldn't insult his family who took him in purely out of kindness.

Harry kept blinking back tears as his aunt released him in the kitchen and grabbed a stool, putting in by the sink and informing Harry that he was to clean all the dishes and then apologize to Dudley if he wanted to have any dinner. She turned on the facet and loaded up a sponge full of soap, before leaving Harry alone.

Only once his aunt left did the tears finally begin falling. Harry's heart ached he missed Sirius and Remus so much. Wiping the tears off with his hands, Harry reached for the sponge and cried out in pain as the hot water burned his skin. Clutching his hand in pain, Harry waited for either his aunt or uncle to come and help him… no one came. Harry hesitantly reached for the sponge again, but he pulled back quickly as he felt the heat of the water so close to his hand.

Harry was suddenly furious, he hadn't done anything wrong and now he had to do all these dishes by himself with burning hot water and-

Harry jumped as he felt a change in the air. Slowly the dishes began moving of their own accord, floating in the air, before moving under the hot water and being scrubbed furiously by the soppy sponge and falling neatly into the drying rack. Harry stared in shock as the last dish laid itself into the drying rack and the sponge dropped back into the sink, lifeless once more. Trembling Harry carefully reached over and turned off the water. He tensed as he heard the tell-tale clicks of his aunt's shoes approaching.

"Haven't you even started bo-" She froze in mid-sentence, "How- what?" She picked up a plate and looked it over closely; then she dropped it back and turned to glare furiously at her nephew, "What are you trying to do, poison us? There is no way that you could have cleaned these so fast."

"But Aunt Petunia I didn't mean to, it just happened. Moony said my magic will just-"

She interrupted him, "That's enough. There is no such thing as magic, stop talking nonsense."

"There is so!" Harry shouted instantly regretting it at the look on his aunt's face.

"Go to your cupboard, you won't have dinner tonight. NOW!"

Harry jumped down from his stool and fled back down the hall, throwing his cupboard open and forcing himself in it. He sat in darkness for a moment trying to grope for the chain for his light bulb and wiping his eyes of tears. Tugging down the chain hard, Harry turned on the light and grabbed his "Blackie" and buying his face into it. Harry curled around his dog and looked up at the waving pictures of his family, before tightening his grip and falling into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Harry woke to pure darkness, his stomach rumbling for food, and blinked sleepily for a moment until he remembered where he was. He swung his legs off of the small cot, his feet just barely brushing the floor, and reached blindly for the small door knob. He gave a soft sigh of relief as the knob turned. Putting all his weight into it, Harry forced the small door open allowing the Dursley's moonlit living room to come into view. He stepped out on tip toes and paused, craning his neck to look up the shadowy staircase. Silence.

Sighing in relief of not getting caught outside of his "room", Harry walked softly into the kitchen. The room did not look so imposing at night, with everything cast in shade the severity of the pristinely white counters and table was dimmed.

It still wasn't anything like home or Hogwarts, Harry thought sadly. He ached to see Padfoot and Moony again. It had already seemed an eternity since he had said goodbye and it did not look as though the time would go by fast. His stomach rumbled again. Moony's breakfast and his small lunch seemed ages ago too.

Harry looked around the room wondering where his best chances of finding food were. Moony and Padfoot had always made Harry's food for him and though Harry got to help, he had never made anything more than a sandwich by himself.

He pulled open some of the lower drawers but they consisted of nothing more than neatly stacked pots and pans. The pantry was full of boxes and small sacks but Harry could not read any of the labels in the dark or reach many of the higher shelves. His stomach protested again, but Harry knew he could not go up to the Dursley's rooms and wake them up to ask for a snack. He glared at the top boxes, he couldn't find anything to eat and his stomach hurt, the stupid Dursley's wouldn't even….

There was a sudden spark of light and Harry jumped back as three boxes flew from one of the top shelves to crash at his feet scattering cookies, chips, and pretzels. Harry stared at the food with his mouth open in a wide "O" before looking back up at the now dark shelf. Any fear he felt was gone in a few seconds as his stomach once again complained and Harry plopped down onto his knees and grabbed a handful of food.

Several handfuls later, Harry was completely full and sleepy once again. Suddenly he looked down to see the large mess and cringed. Sirius and Remus would have just told Harry off for not asking for help and making such a mess, but they would have just had Harry help clean it up. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would be furious.

As quietly as he could, trying to ignore how heavy his limbs were becoming, Harry managed to find a broom in a nearby cupboard, and struggled with his smaller height to sweep the crumbs into a small pile and throw them away. Exhausted, Harry looked at the boxes on the floor and then up on the shelf where they had been. _"Okay, just do what you did before…"_ he thought furrowing his brow in concentration as he stared at the boxes intently hoping they would once again take flight to end up back on their original shelf. Seconds ticked by and nothing happened, the boxes did not so much as twitch on the floor. Dreading what would happen in the morning, Harry put the boxes on the lowest shelf, squishing them to one side to make them fit.

Wearily, Harry headed back to his "room". He stopped in front of the still ajar door and took one last look at the moonlighted room. Remus had taught him the stages of the moon a long time ago and if Harry craned his head he could barely see the crescent moon from in between the draperies.

Slipping onto his cot, pulling the door closed behind him, Harry pushed off a few spiders that had chosen to sleep on his previously unoccupied pillow. He could still remember the first time he had found out Remus was a werewolf.

It had been a stormy night, and after the third lightning strike, Harry was positive that there was some kind of monster in his room. Another flash of light and the shadows were once again distorted sharply. Harry whimpered and tugged the blankets over his head. That was the best defense against monsters other than a grown-up, if you can't see it, it can't see you. He remained covered in the middle of his bed for a few moments and then a thought came to Harry, what if the monster saw that Harry was hiding under the covers and snuck up on him while he couldn't see!

He pushed the covers off suddenly with his legs and arms looking franticly for any signs of monsters. No sign… but monsters were masters of hiding. Another crack of lightning… it was time for desperate measures… find Sirius and Remus!

Harry took a few deep breaths and waited for his moment, he would have to be quick; monsters were very fast and would gobble up little kids if they weren't fast enough. NOW! As there was another flash of lightning, Harry bolted out of bed, opened the door and careened into the hallway. Steadying himself on the banister of the stairs, Harry hurried to Sirius' room, which was the closest to Harry's room.

"Siri!" Harry cried out opening the door, but as another flash of lightning illuminated the room Harry gasped. There were robes and muggle clothes laying all over the floor as normal and the bed was unmade, its covers thrown around haphazardly, but there was no Sirius sprawled across the bed snoring loudly. There was no sign of Sirius anywhere! The monsters must have gobbled him up! With another whimper at a loud _'crack' _of thunder, Harry hurried out of the empty room and down the hall.

"Remus- the monsters got Siri!" Harry cried as he threw open the door, only to revel the tidy room filled with books, also without its owner.

"Not Remy too…" Harry whimpered, slipping down onto his knees against the doorframe… he didn't even have his stuffed dog "Blackie" with him to keep him company, he had left him back in his room.

A sudden creak downstairs broke through the silence and got Harry to his feet. Maybe they went downstairs! He knew his guardians sometimes went downstairs to talk about boring stuff happening in a place called Diagon Alley.

Moving quickly, Harry grabbed hold of the banister, careful not to slip on the smooth wooden steps, and nearly ran downstairs. Remus and Sirius were no where in sight, but Harry was sure he heard something down here. He jumped as there was another creak from Moony's study. He wasn't supposed to go into there, but the monsters could get him if he stood out here in the open like this!

Reaching up on his tip toes, Harry grabbed the tarnished gold handle and pulled down, pushing the door open. Harry peaked into the room he so rarely got to go in. A cheery fire was going in the fire place with a large floor rug in front of it and a few chairs grouped together on it. Harry could make out the outline of a large desk in the back of the room, and the walls were lined with bookshelves.

A soft bark brought Harry's attention to the fire and his feet left the floor in shock to see to pairs of canine eyes watching him closely. He automatically recognized Sirius' animagus form of a large black dog, having played and even ridden on him in that form many times. But the larger brown dog was completely unfamiliar, except for those eyes. They looked like Moony's, but why would Moony not tell Harry about his animagus form so he could play with him and Padfoot? Did Moony think Harry wouldn't like his animgaus form?

Sirius gave another soft bark and jerked his head slightly at the door. Harry knew he was being told to leave, but the memory of the monster in his room still scared him so his shook his head. Sirius growled softly in more annoyance than any actual anger and rose stiffly and stretched, but before he could move the other dog was already up and heading toward Harry.

Harry gulped, he had thought that this strange dog was big, it was HUGE! Dwarfing Harry by a good few inches with all four feet on the ground, this dog began sniffing Harry intently. Harry couldn't hold in his giggles as he felt the cold nose sniff and press gently against him. The dog froze at the sound, causing Harry to go silent immediately; the dog regarded him for a moment longer before licking Harry's check once and walking back over to the fire, flopping back down to its original position. Sirius tugged carefully on Harry's sleeve and brought him over to the fire with them. Harry snuggled in between the two large animals and couldn't think of a safer place from monsters.

But in Privet Drive there were no warm creatures to snuggle against. Harry was all alone, save for the spiders, in the dark.

* * *

Thank you for all of those who waited patiently, please review Dawn 


	13. Chapter 13

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Sorry for the long wait, the next chappie should be out sooner and be mainly about Harry again

* * *

Chapter 13

Eric sighed as he watched the last of the ministry workers disappear with a 'whoosh' into the fireplace. The bright green light dimmed and disappeared, leaving the atrium dark and silent. Another long night and his replacement wouldn't be coming until well after midnight. Security was a lousy, but easy job in the ministry. After all, who would attack the ministry of magic?

"I'm not getting paid enough for this…." He murmured leaning back on in his chair with his feet up on the desk, allowing the trickle of water from the nearby 'fountain of magical brethren' to lull him to sleep.

* * *

Yellow eyes narrowed as they watched the security wizard begin to drift off, this was too easy. He looked up from the small scrying disk given to him by his lord to look at his companions; all of them were young and twitchy with nerves, anxious to prove themselves.

And they would, Grayback thought as he looked toward the bloody sunset. Soon they would gorge themselves on the blood of humans, all for their master. The small disk glowed slightly and Lucius Malfoy's drawling voice quietly said, "It is time. Make a path for us to the records department; kill all who get into your path, but leave the minister, should he make an appearance, unspoiled. He is for our master. Do you understand?"

"Of course" Grayback growled grinning.

As the Deatheater's face disappeared, Grayback reared back and shouted, "Come brothers! It is time to let the world know the power of the werewolves!"

There was a roar of approval from the others as they turned to face the darkening sky. A dark cloud drifted to the side, revealing the glowing full moon. Greyback threw back his head and gave out a howl, ripping at his robes as his head began to change. His howl was echoed all around him as the bones and muscles of his fellows snapped and twisted.

Greyback landed heavily on all four paws, teeth bared in a growl, and several strands of saliva dripping down onto the dirt. Slowly, the howls and cries of the others stopped and all attention turned to Greyback. Perking his ears forward, Greyback howled once more, then sprung towards the ministry building with the others at his heels.

Eric barely had time to scream as the pack of werewolves descended on him. The atrium was soon filled with light from the many curses ricocheting off the walls as other security wizards came to investigate the noise.

Lucius Malfoy waited, leaning against the wall with his deatheater mask in his head and a sneer on his face. '_It is good to know the beasts are still good for something_.'He thought as he watched the carnage without reaction. Now that the new werewolves had their first taste of blood they would submit to any of the master's commands just to get more. They were like addicts, the filthy creatures. They did get the job done, however, extensively. There was no doubt the workers were dead.

Calmly stepping around the blood spattered floor, he walked past the empty atrium and followed the bloody footprints to the records department. Ignoring the three bodies on the floor, Lucius slipped on his mask and pulled up his hood, obscuring his blonde hair from sight.

He sneered at the trembling clerk, cornered by three of the beasts, and said, "My lord requires the records of the most recent relocation of wizards in muggle populated areas. If you value your life, or at least your limbs, I suggest you move quickly."

The clerk edged away from the corner slowly, face frozen in a terrified expression. Malfoy almost yawned, this was becoming a bore. He raised a hand and one of the werewolves lunged at the clerk. He jumped to the side quickly, almost losing an arm to the mouthful of teeth.

"I did say _quickly_…" Malfoy drawled.

The clerk hurried to one the desks and opened a large book with blank pages. Wand trembling as he tried to hold it steady, the clerk stuttered, "R-records of r-relocated wizards in m-muggle p-populated areas." The pages glowed a bright blue before words appeared, filling over half the book.

Shaking and keeping his eyes on the ground, the clerk handed the book over. Lucius smirked as he flipped through the pages, before shutting the book.

"Well done… now that wasn't so hard was it?" He turned on his heal and walked to the door. He stopped just on the inside and raised his hand again. His laughter could still be heard over the screams.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Remus sighed as he looked around what was left of the decrepit house he had spent so much time in during his childhood. So many memories, almost all of them now tainted with betrayal and bloodshed. The innocence they had all treasured was gone with all the grandeur the Shrieking Shack might have had when it was first built.

He paced around lazily, his bare feet leaving shining footprints in the layer of dust covering the floor. He shivered, not from the cold, though he had removed all his clothes save for the trousers he wore out of modesty, but for the wolf's anticipation for its freedom.

"Almost that time isn't it?" Sirius said suddenly, startling Remus. He was half-sitting half-leaning on one of the window ceils, craning his neck to look at the sky.

"Where've you been all day?" Remus asked looking at his friend who looked worse than he did for a change.

There were dark circles around Sirius's eyes, he was unshaven, and looked as though he had slept in his clothes. Sirius just grunted and shrugged, continuing to peer up at the darkening horizon.

"Just two weeks left padfoot," Remus said softly, watching Sirius with concern, "then everything will go back to normal."

Sirius' eyes turned hard, "Is that what you really think?"

"Like your mopping around will help!" Remus snapped suddenly and gasped as a jolt of pain speared through him.

Grabbing his side, Remus gasped for breath. The coldness from Sirius' eyes faded as he waited for his friend to regain control. When Remus did not straighten but fell to his knees, Sirius backed off into a corner and shifted to a dog knowing he could do nothing but wait.

After a series of gut-wrenching cries and howls, Moony stood and shook himself. Sirius padded over to him as usual, but jumped back smartly as Moony's hackles went up and he nearly got a face full of teeth.

Rolling over onto his back, Sirius mentally cursed that sometimes Remus anger at him would be transferred into the wolf. After a few moments of Moony glowering at him, the werewolf allowed him to get back up and follow him up the stairs.

The wolf flopped down heavily in his usual spot by the empty fireplace and laid his head down on his paws. Sirius simply sat down near him, waiting for Moony to either fall asleep or decide to explore the forbidden forest a bit. He jumped when Moony whined softly looking up at him.

'_He probably wants Harry…'_ Sirius thought dully, moving to lay by the werewolf's side. Ever since Harry had walked onto Remus in his wolf state, the werewolf had come to expect him to be there. Like when they were in school, there was always something off with Moony if one of the marauders wasn't with him on the full moon. He'd be quieter, and jump at every noise expecting the missing pack member to appear. Sometimes, albeit rarely, Moony would even try to search for the missing person; but Harry's scent wasn't in the Shrieking Shack.

Sirius heard the wolf sigh and lay its head on Sirius' back, apparently deciding to get some sleep. He didn't really mind, he was exhausted as it was. Growing annoyed with Remus' constant complaints about his 'moping' and with his absence when Sirius got the energy to consider where their new house should be, Sirius had forced himself to return to his old home, number twelve Grimmauld place.

It hadn't changed much in the time he had been gone, save for a good inch or two of dust on the floor and cobwebs in every corner. Against his will, Sirius guessed that they would have to spend at least some time in the place, until they had a safe home for Harry.

He'd spent the better part of a week and a half, merely cleaning out the dust bunnies that had collected along with a zoo of household pests that had made Sirius' old prison, home.

Sirius had already picked out Regulus' old room for Harry to sleep in. Despite a loose floor board, which squeaked annoyingly when stepped on, and the same coat of dust that covered the entire house, it was the only room that was completely free of dark art artifacts. Sirius' own room, which had become a store room in his absence, was far too depressing, as was his parent's room. Keeping those two rooms locked, he cleaned out the other guest rooms on the floor and slept in whichever one was closest to him when he grew sick of cleaning.

Though far from happy, Sirius was at least able to bear his old home, with the insane house-elf Kreacher gone to the Hogwarts kitchens, and a powerful silencing charm placed on the portrait of his 'dear' old mother.

Sirius frowned slightly or as much as possible in his dog form, as Remus shifted beside him. Remus had been disappearing from Hogwarts as well. He had received a letter from Marrok, who had met him at Harry's birthday party, inviting him to some kind of meeting. Though hesitant at first, Remus now seemed to be completely immersed in werewolf rights. While glad that Remus was finally going to stick up for himself and others like him, Sirius wished he could have picked a better time to become an activist.

'_Am I the only one who is thinking of Harry?' _Sirius sighed. He knew it wasn't fair, and he knew better than to dare say it near Remus, but he couldn't help feeling like he was the only one worried about Harry. Sirius didn't know if it was just his past or the way that muggle had looked at Harry, but it was enough to make him want to just disapparate and take Harry out of that house this instant.

Moony broke Sirius' reflection, as he suddenly stood, ears perked. He began to walk around restlessly, snapping at Sirius when he walked over to him. Moony suddenly leaped at the nearest chair and began ripping and clawing at it furiously. He growled, before throwing his head back into a howl, making the Sirius' hair stand on end.

The howl ended and Moony swayed drunkenly, as Remus struggled to get control. Sirius kept back, having never seen Moony act like this before when under a potion. After he seemed to calm down, Sirius tentatively walked over to him and gently nudged the wolf's shoulder. Moony jumped, he was shaking. Remus was back in control, but still reeling over what had just happened.

With gentle nudges and little whines, Sirius got Remus to lie back down. It would be sunrise in an hour or so and then Remus would be able to explain what happened. Sirius rested his head on Remus' neck to try and calm the still shaking werewolf. After a few minutes Moony calmed, but stayed awake until the sky began to lighten.

* * *

Review please! Dawn 


	14. Chapter 14

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/n Sorry for the wait, the action in this chappie should make up for it… Unbetated at the moment so I'll make corrections later, for now I'm going to the beach!

* * *

Chapter 14 

Harry Potter was, in a word, miserable. Try as he might, there was just no pleasing his Aunt and Uncle. From his appearance to the way he spoke, Uncle Vernon could always find some kind of fault in comparison to Dudley.

Remus had always told Harry to never say he hated anyone, that hate was too strong a word just because he was upset, but Harry found himself now struggling to say he didn't hate the Dursleys.

Harry sighed from his spot on the floor and let his tired arm rest for a moment after washing the windows for the second time that day. He had only made one friend in his two week stay so far and it wasn't even a human friend.

_

* * *

One Week Ago _

_Harry brushed a few beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, smearing dirt across his face. He had been trying to pull out weeds in the garden since Dudley had claimed Harry had tried to steal one of his toys earlier that morning. _

_He had never weeded a garden before and couldn't tell what to pull out and what to leave in, but he didn't dare ask his Aunt and Uncle for fear of being punished further. "Stupid Dudley," Harry sniffed, "I d-didn't even do a-anything wrong…"_

_ssss… humans… always digging around in the dirt… scare away all the nice juicy mice…_

_Who's there? Harry asked looking around for the sound of the voice._

_A Speaker? I thought there were no Speakersss left…_

_Harry looked down to see a small green snake peering up at him. Harry dropped down to rest his elbows on the grass, in awe. He had never spoken to a snake before and had never heard of anyone else doing so._

_You- you can understand me? He hissed back unconsciously._

_The snake bobbed his little head in an unmistakable nod, You are a Speaker human, all of my kind can understand a Speaker…_

_How many Speakers are there? Harry asked curiously, Sirius and Remus had never talked about Speakers before…_

_Just you and one other, but he is much older. You're still a child_

"_Boy! Get in here if you want to eat!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice shrieked._

_Will you come with me? Harry asked quickly turning back to the little snake._

_Oh no, those humans are much too loud. I'm staying here and catching my own meal, the snake said, but I suppose I could stay in this garden, I have never talked with a Speaker before._

_I'll see you soon then! Harry said and stroked the snake once before jumping up._

* * *

Present 

Since then Harry had spoken to his new friend everyday, but he was very careful not to let the Dursley's see him. Harry knew that they would just call him a freak again and wouldn't believe that he could talk to snakes.

Harry stood up and picked up the heavy bucket next to him with both hands. It was much too heavy for Harry to get more than a few steps at a time and he had to be very careful not to let the water spill up over the edge and onto the carpet. After a few moments of careful walking, Harry was able to set the bucket down on the floor next to the mop.

He had finished early and couldn't wait to go outside as he was going to show his new snake friend the picture of his parents Sirius had given him. Walking on tiptoes, Harry carefully opened his cupboard and gently pried the waving picture off the wall.

Harry managed to get right in front of the door before he broke into a run, clutching the picture tightly to his chest… right into Dudley.

"Watch where you're going, freak!" Dudley yelled as he was forced to take a step back.

"S-sorry," Harry said, immediately jumping back out of Dudley's range.

Dudley scowled and tried to peer at what Harry was holding, "What's that?"

Harry hesitated, and then reluctantly showed the picture to Dudley, "It's my mum and dad…"

"Hah!" Dudley grabbed the photo, and shoved Harry hard, forcing the smaller boy to fall hard on his back, "Why would you want a picture of your mum and dad? I bet they thought you were a freak to!"

"They did not!" Harry shouted, leaping to his feet, "Give that back!"

"No," Dudley said taking the picture with both hands, "you know what? I bet your parents died on purpose! I bet they just got sick of being around you! They didn't want to be around a freak!"

"That's not true!" Harry shouted again, his face turning red.

"Is too!" Dudley sneered, "They didn't love you at all!"

"Give me back my picture!" Harry yelled, tearing running down his face.

"No!" Dudley yelled back and tried to rip the picture in half.

The picture didn't rip or tear at all. Dudley tried to point where his arms were shaking at the attempt, but the picture remained the same.

Harry's hands were clenched into fists at his side and his eyes were screwed up against the force swelling inside of him. He could literally feel his magic go around the photo and felt the house shake next to him.

"_Stop!…"_

Harry heard the yell dimly as he fell to his knees, exhausted. Dudley had dropped the picture and it had fluttered down beside his knee.

Wiping his face with his sleeve, Harry left Dudley shouting for his parents and fled into his cupboard. He quickly took down all his precious pictures and, after giving him a long hug, put them and Blackie into his suitcase. His hands shook as he heard the thunderous steps of his uncle as he tried to shut the suitcase, his practice wand falling out in the process. He pocketed his practice wand and shoved his suitcase under his cot just as his uncle flung the cupboard door open.

Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry by the collar and flung him so he stumbled into the wall.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO DUDLEY!" Vernon screamed, a vein already pulsing in his forehead.

Harry felt something surge through him again and looked his uncle in the eye, "I didn't do anything to Dudley. He tried to-"

"THAT'S A LIE!" He pushed Harry up against the wall, "I'll not have you endanger my wife and child! You're not welcome in this house! Right Petunia?" He added slightly softer.

Petunia looked into her husband's purple face as her son wailed in her arms and slowly nodded.

Harry felt as if he had been doused in freezing water. He blinked as the entire house suddenly seemed to be made of light before it all faded. A sudden feeling of absolute dread filled him and he bolted towards the stairs.

Vernon lunged, but missed him, merely grazing his ankle as Harry ran up the stairs only to freeze as a deafening '**BANG'** sounded and the lights went out. There was a soft 'click' that resounded in the silence and the door slowly swung open allowing a light mist to swirl in the doorway.

Then the footsteps came … darkly dressed figures entered the house…

Harry turned and fled as he caught sight of the masked figures that had haunted his dreams since they attacked his old home. He opened the first door he saw and hid in a corner. He cried out when he heard his Uncle screaming and tried block out the sound by covering his ears, but he could still hear him.

The door to the room opened suddenly and Harry pressed himself flat against the wall as one of the masked figures saw him, "He's here!" A man's rough voice called out.

Terrified, Harry grabbed his wand and shouted, "_Stupify"_ sending a jet of red light at the man, causing him to fly backwards into the wall. He bolted out of the room and went halfway down the stairs only to freeze as he saw more of the masked figures.

Uncle Vernon was on his knees, shaking like mad as a figure leveled his wand with Vernon's face and said, "_Avavda Kedavra_!" sending a jet of green light at Vernon.

Harry's cry was drowned out by his Aunt's scream as Uncle Vernon fell lifeless before the figure. Harry felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed on one of the stairs.

He vaguely saw another burst of white light and heard more shouting, before he fell into welcome darkness and silence.

* * *

Remus was shaking. While this was common enough for a werewolf the day after the full moon, Remus doubted he would ever feel this way again in his life. He hoped he would never feel this way again in his life. 

When Remus had first seen Fawkes flying towards him, his first thoughts were of Marrok, that he had attacked or some kind of riot had taken place. He had not expected a hasty note from Dumbledore telling him that Harry had been attacked; his uncle had been killed, and Harry was most likely seriously injured. He had also not expected to be sitting in a hard plastic chair in St. Mungo's waiting to hear if Harry was so much as alive because 1) he was a werewolf, 2) he was not Harry's official guardian, and 3) because he was a werewolf.

It was only when Remus was sure he was going to attack the Auror at the door and force his way in to see Harry, did Sirius come through the door with a harassed looking mediwitch trying to keep step behind him.

"We're seeing Harry **now**." Sirius said barely looking at Remus as he passed the werewolf.

Remus was up out of seat and with Sirius through the door before the mediwitch could so much as open her mouth to protest.

Once inside, both men froze upon seeing Harry. He looked so small lying there in the hospital bed with a bunch of Healers standing around him, looking positively alarmed if not frightened at the approach of the two men.

"Umm…" the youngest Healer murmured, "Mr. Black?"

Sirius just looked at him, his face completely blank.

"Erm… Healer McBride sir, Mr. Potter has been checked over and it seems that, along with being borderline malnourished, Mr. Potter has heavily bruised ribs and sprained wrist due to what looks like falling down the stairs. He hasn't been responsive, but he does not seem to have a concussion. Once he wakes up, we can-"

"Dumbledore asked that Harry be moved back to Hogwarts for safety reasons." Sirius said in a monotone voice.

The healer stared at Sirius for a moment before nodding, causing more than one of his fellows to look alarmed. "Mr. Black," the young man said softly, "I'm not sure if you are aware of it and," he glanced back towards the other healers, "if you can't tell from my associates, you are suspected as to play a part in this…"

Sirius' eyes flashed furiously, "You think I did this to my own godson!"

"No", McBride said calmly looking Sirius in the eye, "it has been rumored that you were involved in this. Your family history along with Mr. Lupin's condition…" He shook his head, "I may have only been a healer for a year now, but I can tell from the way you look…you wouldn't harm a hair on this child's head."

He straightened and leafed through a chart briefly, "I'll heal the bruising as best I can while he's unconscious, if I know Poppy she'll heal up the rest the minute Harry's eyes open. There's not much I can do for the sprain so I'll wrap that as best I can, just be careful that it doesn't get knocked by anything or Harry will get a painful wakeup call."

"Why can't you heal him now?" Sirius asked, grateful that at least one healer didn't think he and Remus hurt their own child.

"When a wizard is unconscious, their magic does what it can to try and heal itself. If a foreign magic is administered, the body might try and reject it causing the person to go into a magical shock. This doesn't happen often, but as Harry is so young and his wounds are not life threatening, I'd rather wait and be sure he is healed properly." The young man said waving his wand over Harry's wrist, causing bandages to wrap themselves around it.

"Do you have a portkey?" McBride asked finally and nodded approvingly when Sirius held up one of Fawkes' feathers.

Remus gently lifted Harry into his arms, and fought a gasp from how light he was. Sirius walked over to them and rested on hand on Remus' forearm and the other on Harry's shoulder. The young healer shook his head sadly as he watched the trio go, the media was going to have a field day over that poor boy's torment.

* * *

A/N hope you liked the chapter! More on Sirius, Remus, and Harry's condition next chappie! Review Please! Dawn 


	15. Chapter 15

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Sorry for the long wait and not so long chapter. There's only 1 or 2 chapters left to go in Tattered Innocence!

* * *

Chapter 15 

Remus shifted uncomfortably in the unforgiving straight-backed chair in the hospital wing. The chair stopped at shoulders and his neck was getting a cramp from dozing off and on during the three hours he had been there.

Sirius had left about two hours ago to go and speak to Dumbledore and Mrs. Figg about the attack. Remus had hesitated when Sirius insisted he speak to Dumbledore, knowing both how angry Sirius was and how well Sirius was in repressing said anger, but part of him wanted to go and scream at Dumbledore alongside him.

A soft moan broke through Remus' brooding, and he immediately turned towards the bed. Harry whimpered once again, his face scrunched up in obvious pain, but before Remus could open his mouth, Poppy pushed him aside and went to the boy's side.

Remus craned his neck to try and see what the nurse was doing, but was forced to wait impatiently by her side. Harry made a noise of disgust and the nurse rose, apparently satisfied for the time being, with an empty goblet in her hand still smoking from its previous contents.

Harry was sitting up, but was still holding his side and was moving very gingerly as to not aggravate his wounds. Remus could still not get over how much weight Harry had lost over the short amount of time he had been away. The infirmary pajamas, which would have normally fit him fine, were baggy, the shirt slipping off one of his shoulders.

Harry flinched when Poppy approached him again and tensed when she placed a hand on his forehead. Poppy paid little attention to Harry focused instead on a slip of paper she was holding in her hands. No doubt it was taking Harry's temperature and checking over his condition, but Remus felt his concern growing as Harry did not relax in the long minutes of silence.

"Harry," Remus called softly.

Harry looked up so sharply that Remus winced, but before another word was spoken, Harry launched himself off of the bed and into Remus, burying his face into Remus' stomach, clutching on for dear life and crying harshly.

"Remus, you must try and calm him down! He'll hurt himself!" Poppy exclaimed.

Remus knelt beside the small boy and cradled him gently, whispering softly to him and rubbing his back as gently as he could. Carefully, and ignoring Poppy's soft hiss of disproval, Remus picked Harry up and sat on the bed with Harry in his lap. Harry still clung to him, and reburied his face into Remus' robes at the first opportunity.

There was a noise at the door and Remus looked up to see Sirius with his eyes trained on Harry, a look of helplessness and anger in his eyes as stared at the small boy. With a soft sniff, Harry turned slightly and, seeing Sirius, reached out for him, keeping a fistful of Remus' robes in his hand.

Sirius wordlessly sat next to Remus and let Harry cling onto his hand as the boy slowly settled back into Remus' embrace. Whatever potion Poppy had given him, was obviously beginning to take affect as the boy's eyes began to close. Harry struggled to stay awake, clinging wordlessly onto his two guardians.

"It's alright Harry," Sirius murmured softly, "We're not going anywhere."

"Padfoot…" Harry slurred softly, "Don't wanna go back, don't make…"

"No, Harry." Sirius said in a thick voice, his eyes shinning, "You're not going back there, **ever**."

Then Harry gave them a tiny smile, before falling fast asleep, still clutching the two men like a lifeline.

"When will he be well enough to travel?" Sirius asked softly.

"_Travel_? Sirius Black, this boy is in no-"

Sirius cut her off, "We're taking him out of Hogwarts when he wakes up. The only traveling we'll be doing is a trip to London to … my house." He struggled slightly with the last two words.

Poppy seemed to puff herself up indignantly, "This boy will need proper care, Black, which I doubt you or Mr. Lupin could-"

Sirius cut her off again, "There is a floo system set up. I would be very happy to have you continue to help Harry, but I," He looked over at Remus, "we, can't have Harry stay here any longer. He- he will recover fully… right?"

Poppy eyed him for a moment before saying, "He will be completely physically recovered by the end ofthe week, but emotionally… what he saw and went through is very traumatic for a child of his age." She gestured towards Harry's clenched hands, "He will be very dependant of you in the coming days. He will get frightened easily, have a constant need for at least one of your presences, have nightmares, and trouble sleeping. He will also be more liable to get sick as his malnourishment has weakened his immune system."

Sirius just nodded wordlessly, "Will you come and see him in London?"

The nurse paused slightly and looked sympathetically as Harry shifted and winced in his sleep. "Very well, Mr. Black," she sighed, "I'll come. But," She said sternly, "that boy is not to leave that bed until I have looked him over again."

At Sirius' nod, she turned and retreated back into her office muttering to herself.

"We went to the Durselys' house." Sirius stated abruptly,turning towards Remus,"I brought Harry's things back. And I also found these…"

He pulled out a small stack of letters, all unopened and all addressed to Harry.

Remus stared unbelievingly down at the parchment in his hands, "They didn't even give them to him?"

"You're surprised?" Sirius asked bitterly, "They were by the fireplace, I'd bet the muggles were planning on burning the lot, not that it matters now."

"His uncle was killed wasn't he?" Remus asked, "What about his aunt and cousin?"

Sirius just shrugged, "Both got memory charms." He sighed, "The whale of a boy kept ranting about how Harry was talking to a snake the other day. The papers were there and no doubt it'll be on the front page how Harry's evil godfather and werewolf uncle corrupted him and his speaking parseltounge is a sign he's destined to be a dark wizard."

Remus' eyes narrowed, "More rumors like what the mediwizards told us?"

Sirius nodded and his free hand though his hair, "That's why we need to leave."

"But moving to London is hardly going to get Harry out of the spot light. Why not stay here and-" Remus' protests were cut off.

"London is only temporary," Sirius said quickly, "we'll go farther away, leave the country." He hesitated slightly, "We're in this together Moony and if you're completely against it we can come up with something else, but… Harry's not going to have a life here. Dumbledore was just going on about how Harry could move into Hogwarts and start his schooling early and-"

"But isn't that what we want?" Remus interrupted, "Harry would be safe here-"

"Safe from whom?" Sirius asked quickly, "Who's to say Dumbledore won't use him as badly as the ministry? The wizarding world is calling for a savior, but he's only a boy! Remus, if Harry stays here he'll never have a childhood. Think about it, Harry's been attacked twice in one year, he needs to heal and if he stays he won't be able to. I don't care if Dumbledore thinks we're running away, our priority is to keep Harry safe, healthy, and happy. The ministry and Dumbledore would have Harry die for the good of all wizard kind; I would have him live just for the joy of living! Let him decide what part he wants to play in the war when he is of age!"

"Sirius," Remus said slowly, "Voldemort will not stop coming for Harry, and how would we keep him safe by ourselves? If you do not want to associate with Dumbledore that includes the Order as well, you want us to leave the Order too?"

"Only until Harry is ready to come back to England," Sirius assured, "We'll keep traveling, stay in large wizard communities, pass Harry off as a nephew or something, Harry's a common enough name, and we'll hide his scar. We'll teach him everything we know, but still let him have some fun… he may be the proclaimed savior of our world, but he is first and utmost my godson."

Remus said nothing for a long time. He looked down at the still sleeping Harry, completely oblivious of the life-changing conversation going on around him. Harry's small hands still clutched at Remus' robes and Sirius' hand, determined not to let either go. Remus stroked the child's hair gently for a moment and slowly, he nodded, "Alright."

Sirius let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, not in relief, but in acceptance. He could only hope they were making the right choice.

"Where are we staying in London?" Remus asked after a moment.

Sirius winced, "Grimmauld Place."

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Is that where you have been going?"

Sirius nodded, "It's already cleaned up and everything. Once Poppy sees Harry we can move right in…"

"I take it Dumbledore knows of your plans?" Remus inquired.

Sirius shrugged, "More or less, he knows we're taking Harry and that there will be no further discussion on that."

Remus nodded and looked down sadly at the small child in his lap.

"For now," Sirius said softly, "there is nothing to do but wait."

* * *

Thank you for your patience! Please review! Dawn 


	16. Chapter 16

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N Sorry for the lack of updates, writer's blocks a bit- well you know… anyway one more chappie left in Tattered Innocence! I'm thinking of doing a sequel, but I think I need to finish my other story first. Anyway all opinions of the topic are welcomed. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 16 

Remus stared at the blank parchment before him; quill inked and held at the ready, but could not find the right words. Once he and Sirius had truly decided that they were going to go through with this… plan of sorts, they both knew they had to cut off their connections with the wizarding world. In other words, cancel their _Daily Prophet_ deliveries, sell their house in Cork, and tie up any other loose ends.

Remus had been attempting to write a letter to Marrok for the better part of an hour now with no results, save perfecting his shooting technique of a ball of used parchment from his desk to the bin across the room. He just didn't know what to say to the werewolf,

'_Marrok, _

_Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving the country with my best friend who has successfully pissed off the ministry, the press, and Dumbledore in less than three hours and my five-year-old child who has been abused for the better part of a month and who was just recently attacked by deatheaters,_

_Cheers, Remus'_

He snorted and rolled up his poor excuse for a letter and lobed it towards the rubbish bin, and scowled as it bounced off the corner and landed on top of this morning's _Daily Prophet_, depicting a furious looking Sirius hexing several photographers trying to get a look at Harry in the hospital wing. Remus sighed and leaned back into his chair, starring up at the stone ceiling.

Harry…

Harry wasn't doing well. He would barely speak to anyone but Sirius and Remus and even then he had limited things to say save for pleas not to return to the Dursleys. While his physical wounds were healing well enough, his lowered immune system had result in a nasty cold, pushing back their departure date until Harry was well enough to travel.

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, remembering how Harry had gotten the cold.

* * *

It had been raining almost all day and Harry had not moved from his spot by the window, Hedwig in her cage by his side. He had wanted to let her out flying, but the nurse, Poppy Sirius had called her, refused to let him out of bed and had only allowed Harry to sit by the window after Harry had pleaded with her. Harry glanced around, Poppy was in her office, Remus had left a little while ago to get lunch, and Sirius was sprawled across one of the beds snoring loudly. 

He hesitated slightly knowing how bad Sirius' temper had been the last few days, but he looked out side and saw a few rays of sunlight break through the clouds. It had been ages since he was outside and he would only be gone a couple of minutes. So, on tip toes, the caution pointless with how loud Sirius was snoring, Harry carefully took Hedwig's cage and snuck out of the ward.

Hagrid had taken him up in one of the towers once to show Harry how large the grounds were before he had left, and Harry followed their path, getting turned around once when one of the portraits, a crazy knight, had pointed him in the wrong direction. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the large wooden doors and stepped out. He was feeling a little dizzy, so he sat down on the wet stone to catch his breath and let Hedwig out, who flew around him clicking her beak disapprovingly.

Ignoring her, Harry stood back up and walked to the far end of the tower and looked out over the grounds trying not to notice how the light rain was building back up slightly. This being the only chance he would have to be outside for a while, Harry was determined to enjoy it. He liked to watch the lake the most. The rain drops making large circles and the wind making large waves made the normally flat lake constantly changing its shape. He shivered as the wind picked up and rain from taller parts of the castle began sliding down on top of him and clutched his dressing robe tighter around him. Trying to ignore his discomfort was becoming increasing more difficult as another wave of dizziness swept over him for standing so long.

Harry's sneakers were now completely soaked and the rain was now dripping down off of his hair and down his back. He jumped with the door was suddenly throw open, and Sirius appeared looking frantic, with a piece of old parchment clutched in his hand.

"Harry James Potter what in Merlin's name are you doing out here!" He yelled grabbing Harry from where he was standing and wrapping his robe around the shivering boy. "Your freezing," he murmured rubbing Harry's arms and shoulders, "what were you doing out here in the rain?"

"…wanted to let Hedwig fly around," Harry murmured, trying to calm himself from the fright Sirius had given him by screaming and grabbing him.

Sirius sighed and set Harry back on his feet once they were back inside the school, Hedwig flying through the door just before it closed and landing on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius pulled out his wand and cast a quick drying spell on Harry's soaking wet clothes, "Harry you should know better than to go out in the rain dressed like that. You're going to get ill."

He felt the boy's forehead and sighed when he could feel a burning heat under his palm, "I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to yell," Sirius said, wrapping his robe tighter around the boy and picking him back up, "You scared me when I woke up and you weren't there. Please don't do that again, you'll be able to play outside when you get better."

"Sorry Sirius," Harry muttered, resting his head against his godfather's shoulder.

"S'okay, Harry," Sirius said rubbing Harry's back comfortingly, feeling horrible he had yelled at Harry.

Poppy had been furious when Sirius returned with Harry, who by then, had developed a sniffle which turned into a bad cough.

* * *

Harry had been bedridden in their rooms since that incident, waking a few times a day to get potions and drink down some broth. Sirius had found a television in the muggle studies classroom and set it up in Harry's room to give him something to do in the few hours he was awake.

Remus sighed and looked back down at the piece of parchment. Poppy had reluctantly allowed Harry to walk around a little and had determined that it would be alright for him to move, on the condition that he rest for a few more days in London.

This was Remus' last day to compose this letter; they had finalized everything else in the last few days. Remus sat up determinedly and bent over the desk,

_Marrok,_

_I am writing to inform you that, by the time you receive this, I will be out of Hogwarts and perhaps even out of the country. Due to recent events you might have heard of through the papers, Sirius and I have agreed that England is no longer safe for Harry. Neither one of us wants Harry to grow up with the pressure the public, among others, will put on him. I can understand how you might disagree with this decision, but I think this is the best for Harry. _

_For safety's sake, I must ask you not to reply to this letter nor send any letters to me. With possible deatheater's on our trail we can not allow anything to follow us. I do hope we may meet again when I return to England. I will not forget what we talked about or what you showed me._

_Until then, _

_Remus Lupin- fugitive_

He nodded approvingly at the letter, and summoned one of the school owls while the ink dried. He would miss Marrok. While he would not call him a friend per say, Remus had felt a connection he hadn't felt since the day he first joined the Order. Marrok had given Remus the spark, the righteous indignation, he had lacked for many years. He had shown Remus the deplorable conditions in which his kind was forced to live, how innocent children were forced to live.

In a way, Remus thought as he tied the letter the owl's leg, he did feel like he was abandoning the werewolves, but he had Harry to think of. He had no doubt of Sirius' abilities, especially in the last few days, but as Sirius said, they were in this together. As the owl flew away Remus made a promise to himself, when they returned, when Harry didn't need him so desperately he would return to Marrok and help the rebels.

"Is that everything?" Sirius asked as he surveyed the mess of trunks and bags spread across the room.

"Everything but the bathtub," Remus said rolling his eyes.

"Drat, I knew I forgot something," Sirius said dropping the last bag beside one of the trunks.

"Is it time to go Padfoot?" Harry asked from his perch on top of a blue trunk wrapped up in one of Remus' old cloaks.

"Almost pup." Sirius said digging into his pocket looking for the portkey, while Remus began shrinking everything down into a single trunk, leaving the one Harry was sitting on for last.

"Come on kid," Remus said putting Harry on the ground and shrinking the last trunk, "Ready to go?"

Harry nodded then jumped as the door suddenly opened and a somber Dumbledore and a tearful Hagrid walked in.

"Already to go then?" Dumbledore asked sadly.

"Yes." Sirius said stiffly, portkey in hand.

Hagrid wailed as he bent to give Harry a kiss on the head, "Take care of ur self now 'Arry."

Harry nodded and quickly went back to Remus and grabbed a handful of his robes. Dumbledore watched him sadly before turning to Sirius, "Sirius are you sure-"

"We've made our decision." Sirius interrupted sharply, then reluctantly, "Thank you for allowing us to stay here until Harry was well enough to travel, but we can't stay here any longer."

"And you will not tell me where you are going." Dumbledore sated, not really expecting an answer.

Sirius simply nodded.

Dumbledore sighed, "I wish the best for all of you. I hope you can find a good home. Sirius, Remus."

The last they would see of Hogwarts for many years would be a wailing Hagrid and a twinkle-less Dumbledore.

* * *

A/N So only one chapter to go! Reviews make me a happy writer! -Dawn


	17. Chapter 17

Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N LAST CHAPTER

* * *

Chapter 17

Harry had lost his marbles, literally. He had grabbed the bottom of the bag and the drawstring went loose sending marbles flying off in many different directions. Harry wouldn't have been so upset if they had been regular marbles, but these were his _Quidditch _marbles, the ones Remus had gotten him after he had returned from Scotland.

These marbles were charmed so all you would have to do is say the names of two Quidditch teams and the marbles would morph into those teams and play a game on whatever surface they were on. Harry's favorite game so far was at the dinner table when he had whispered the names of the rival teams the Appleby Arrows and the Wimbourne Wasps. The game had been fierce, the chasers knocking over glasses and the beaters sending a handful of sprouts flying up into the air. It had ended spectacularly with both seekers crashing into the large bowl of mashed potatoes getting everyone splattered.

Sirius, after wiping a large amount of mashed potatoes off of his hair, had told Harry not to play with his marbles at the table again unless they had someone from the Ministry over for dinner. Remus just shook his head and muttered something about how he hadn't had this in mind when he had gotten the marbles for Harry and salvaged the rest of their dinner with a wave of his wand.

Now said marbles were all over the floor, Harry's training wand was in his trunk, and there was no way that he was putting his bare feet down, in the dark, on his bedroom floor.

Though the Dursley's were by far the worst place he had stayed in, number twelve Grimmauld Place was a close second place. Creatures scuttled unseen behind peeling wallpaper, lit by snake-shaped old fashioned gas lamps. The threadbare carpet barely covered the creaky floorboards, some of which Harry was afraid to walk on for fear of falling through.

It wasn't so bad with Sirius and Remus here all to himself. Though both spent many hours talking in whispers to one another out of Harry's hearing, they rarely left the house for more than an hour during the week they had been living in Sirius' old house. Harry could honestly understand why Sirius would run away from such a gloomy old place when he had been a teenager.

Sirius promised that they would not stay for long as Harry was almost completely well and Remus had happily proclaimed that Harry had managed to gain a few pounds.

Harry could not wait to get out of the house. Besides how creepy the place was at night, it was made worse by the strange dreams Harry kept having. He would get these strange feelings when he entered his room and would see a man's figure kneeling in the middle of his floor just before he woke up. Harry tried to just pass these dreams off of nightmares, Sirius and Remus had been forced to wake him up several times from horrible nightmares about the deatheaters, but there was just something different about them.

He sighed dejectedly and lay back down on the bed staring at the ceiling. He had hoped his marbles would keep him awake so he wouldn't have to dream, but now that he dropped them, Harry wished he had come up with a plan B. Harry found himself glancing at the door every couple of minutes, waiting for Padfoot to show up.

Sirius had gotten into the habit of waking Harry up every night, so even if Harry had not made any noise all night, Sirius would wake and be unable to sleep until he went in to check on Harry. Usually Sirius would just poke his head in or, if Harry couldn't sleep, he would transform into Padfoot and sleep at the end of Harry's bed.

Harry sighed again, knowing Sirius would not be happy with his decision to stay up all night and, with nothing to distract him, Harry could feel his eyelids getting heavier. Determined not to go without a fight, Harry sat back up and hesitantly slipped one foot from the safety of his bed onto the cold hard floor and shut his eyes tightly, waiting. When nothing came flying out from underneath his bed or from one of the shadowy corners, Harry set his other foot down on the floor. Nothing.

He gingerly took one step and then another, before stepping on the board that always creaked no matter what part a person stepped on it. For some reason, Harry found he could not keep going. He found himself starring at the creaky board, before cautiously lowering himself onto his knees.

He ran his fingers around the edge of the board and slipped them through a large crack that ran down the far side. He gave a hard tug and fell backwards from the force as the board came loose. There was something in the empty space, wrapped in a handkerchief with the initials _RAB_ embroidered in one corner. Harry picked it up and found a small worn journal inside with the same initials embossed in gold in the bottom right corner.

A sound of the far corner of his room woke Harry from his daze and he quickly set the board back into place, stuffed the dairy into the secret compartment in the top of his trunk, under the lining, and jumped into bed. He was asleep before Sirius walked in the room.

* * *

"Harry… Harry!" 

Harry woke up with a start to find he was almost nose to nose with his godfather.

"Finally you're awake… c'mon we're leaving." Sirius whispered, getting off the bed, "Why are your marbles all over the place?"

"I grabbed the wrong side of the bag," Harry said sleepily, rubbing his eyes, "Why are we leaving now?"

A flash of concern came over Sirius' face, "You're feeling alright aren't you?"

"I'm fine." Harry answered and was surprised to find that he did feel great. He had fallen into a deep sleep after…

"Sirius, do you know anyone who has the initials RAB?" Harry asked suddenly remembering the small journal he had found.

Sirius shrugged distractedly as he put Harry's marbles back into their bag and shut Harry's trunk, "I'm sure there are a lot of wizards with those initials."

"Oh," Harry said sadly, then brightened, maybe Moony knew someone…

Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Sirius tossed some of his clothes onto his head, laughing slightly.

"Come on sleepy head I know it's early, but we need to get a move on. Get dressed and come down for breakfast. And don't forget to jump the last stair on your way down!"

Harry nodded and began to tug on his clothes, laughing when he heard a crash on the staircase from his godfather forgetting to jump the last stair himself.

Fully dressed and remembering to jump the last stair, Harry went down into the kitchen and began to eat what a harassed-looking Moony had set up for him.

"Moony do you know anyone with the initials RAB?" Harry asked between bites of cereal.

"No, not of the top of my head," Remus said distractedly, "Sirius for the last time please _AIM_ before you start trying to shrink things!" Harry watched in amusement as Remus un-shrunk the oven, the refrigerator, and a cabinet.

By nine thirty that morning, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Harry Potter disappeared from London without leaving a trace of where they were going.

* * *

By ten o'clock the next day, Albus Dumbledore gathered the remaining Order members to discuss their future. With Harry suddenly gone and with all the rumors still floating around about his guardians, the wizarding world would be in great need of both a moral boost and a better form of protection. The aurors were overrun as it was and the ordinary Magical Law Enforcement Patrol was understaffed and not truly qualified to handle such dangerous jobs. 

Dumbledore stood grim-faced as he watched the Order file out. They had reluctantly agreed to set up a patrol of the large wizarding cities in England with the Ministry. Though many disliked the stringent curfews, it was for the safety of both the townspeople and the patrol to limit the risk of friendly fire and casualties.

They had also agreed to set up an elite group of Aurors and anyone else who could pass the rigorous tests, whose soul job would be to go after Deatheaters. It was dangerous to give so much power and authority to a group, but, as Dumbledore was forced to admit, the war had begun anew.

Voldemort was different this time; he was regrouping and setting up a rank among his followers. He still remained the supreme authority, but he was granting certain deatheaters more liberties. Lucius Malfoy for example, was obviously in one of the higher rankings as it was he who personally tried to kidnap Harry once in Cork and he was spotted again at the Dursley's house.

Wormtail, however, was another matter completely. The _Prophet _had somehow found out that Sirius, Remus, and Peter had all been friends of James' and that Peter had somehow been involved in both of Harry's parents' deaths. Besides the fact that Dumbledore was furious that they had published this, but they also had the nerve to question if Sirius and Remus had any involvement in the plot and if Harry was in the hands of accomplices to his parents' murder.

It was this story that started Rita Skeeters' fame and reputation. How she did it, Dumbledore didn't know yet, but he did know that he would have to do some damage control to prevent Sirius and Remus getting arrested if they ever set foot back in England again.

He sighed sadly. His parting with the small family had not gone well, to put it mildly. While he knew of Petunia's hatred of magic, he had dared to believe that she would not allow her own flesh and blood to be thrown to the wolves. The blood magic _was _the strongest protection Dumbledore could offer Harry, now…

Sirius and Remus would take care of Harry no doubt about that, but Dumbledore could only hope that they could stay one step ahead of the deatheaters. He smiled slightly thinking that if Sirius and Remus did teach Harry everything they knew, Harry Potter would break every record the marauders had during their prime.

Dumbledore walked to the window and looked out at the serene-looking grounds. He raised his goblet to the night sky and whispered, "To the Boy-Who-Lived, to the future."

The End

A/N well, that should give you all some things to think about! I know this chapter wasn't particularly long, but at least I could post it sooner! Now some questions to be answered in the sequel… Where is Harry going? Will he stay out of the deatheaters' reach? What is Voldemort Planning? What is up with the journal? Will Harry find out who RGB is? Or will he forget? THE SEQUEL WILL NOT BE POSTED UNTIL AUGUST! I am too stressed out to even try and fit some time to write in the next couple weeks. So until then, please try and take a guess at some of the questions… who knows you might be right! If someone names a cool place I might just put it in the story! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it really helped!

Until we meet again Dawn


	18. Chapter 18

Hey guys! Sorry for the _very_ long wait, but the sequel to Tattered Innocence is up! The fic is called **Boundaries of Dreams** and takes place about five years after Tattered Innocence! Check it out!

Dawn


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